


yellow shadows

by kurgaya



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag, Family Feels, Gen, Humor, Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Lost Tower - Freeform, Parent-Child Relationship, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-18 01:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21503128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurgaya/pseuds/kurgaya
Summary: "You're the Fourth Hokage," Naruto breathes, and this time his not-clone's laughter is startled and high."I think I'd know if I was the Hokage, kid," Namikaze Minato replies.[The Lost Tower semi-AU with more character interaction, more Yamato, and even more Kakashi]
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi & Uzumaki Naruto, Namikaze Minato & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 152
Kudos: 724
Collections: Terrific Time Travel Fics





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A basic understanding of the movie plot would help with this since I'm not really changing much in that regard. I just wanted these characters to _talk to each other dammit_.
> 
> Also, unless I'm remembering this incorrectly, I'm sure it's implied that Naruto knows who his father is in this movie, so that's what I'm rolling with. The farewell scene at the end kills me T_T

Spires and towers rise up over the city, dark stone and clay spiralling up to the sky. From the desert they seem to have grown, a forest of jagged architecture and twisting metal pipes. Sun motifs decorate every building and Naruto covers his eyes from the light as he looks up to the tallest tower. Great, arching windows and kaleidoscopic glass blink multi-coloured light down upon him. He grimaces as his eyes water, looking away. The streets below are sun-baked and empty; maybe the people have sought refuge from the late afternoon heat. He can’t blame them. He tugs at his jacket, wishing the mesh vest beneath was cool. He certainly doesn’t recognise this place but it _feels_ like the Land of Wind; hot and dry, with sand weighing down the air. He was in the Land of Wind when Mukade released the Fourth’s sealing jutsu, so perhaps the jutsu didn’t transport him _too_ far. He doesn’t remember seeing a city like this amidst the ruins of Rōran, though. It’s true that he doesn’t pay much attention to Tsunade’s briefings but an _entire civilisation_ is no small detail – right?

“Who am I kidding,” Naruto sighs, slumping forward. Given that the Fourth was adept in space-time manipulation and Naruto’s luck is – well – _Naruto’s luck_ , he’s probably somewhere dumb like a _different dimension_.

He grumbles to himself, swinging his legs over the edge of the walkway, high, _high_ above the ground. At his waist, his chakra-blade sits cumbersome and heavy, and Yamato’s sigh of _why didn’t you use it?_ rings in Naruto’s ears. From his supplies pouch he pulls an assortment of blunt shuriken, soldier pills from Sakura, a lucky cat figurine that Yamato created with his wood style, four coupons for Ramen Ichiraku, his frog wallet, and finally a small map. He stuffs everything but the map back into the bag, and then unfolds the map with great difficulty until he finds the crease-lines running through the Land of Wind. A terrible doodle of Gaara glowers up at him. He smiles at it, sure that Gaara has already heard of the disappearance of Konohan shinobi in his land. There was a small team of Suna shinobi exploring the ruins as well, but Naruto doesn’t remember what they were doing while Team Kakashi were hunting Mukade down.

He hopes everyone else is okay. Sai’s ink falcon is a vague flash in the back of his mind so maybe some of his team escaped the sealing jutsu. If they didn’t, then Naruto’s priority must be to find them. They can work out where this place is together and then they can hunt Mukade down and beat his _face in_ for messing with the Fourth Hokage’s seal.

“All right!” Naruto says, plan decided. He somewhat-folds and shoves the map back into his supplies pouch. “Come _on_ , go _in_ –”

A flash of purple catches his eye. He rolls out of the way just as a sphere of light hurtles past and smashes into the nearby tower, shattering brick and rubble down onto the bridge. Another ball of light soon follows, whizzing by like a colossal rasengan before fizzling out from sight. Across the bridge, a doorway cranks open to reveal three armoured men – or what Naruto assumes to be men; they’re human-shaped but far too large, and their bulging armour looks to be made of stone. Abandoning the map, he leaps up and yanks a kunai from his holster, blocking the claw-like blade from the first of the soldiers that charges towards him. The other two circle around, gliding rather than walking, and when they step from the bridge and fire another purple-fire blast, they quite literally _hover_ over the ground.

“The _hell_!?”

Naruto _veers_ back, chakra-jumping to the tower to put some distance between him and the soldiers. Their heads follow him with slow, cranking sounds; their eyes are pupil-less, their faces stone. Their hands spin like machines and their many blades clash together as they chase him over the bridge. He yelps and leaps for another walkway, forming a shadow clone into existence. It shares his look of incredulity as the three soldiers fly after them. One flimsy kunai doesn’t seem like much of a weapon anymore but Naruto bolsters himself and lands hard on the next bridge, rolling off the impact with the kunai ready in his hand.

“What _are_ you guys?” he yells – but the soldiers fail to answer. “Are you with Mukade?”

Two more soldiers appear from below the walkway, gliding up like puppets on strings. Naruto and his clone divert, hoping to split their attention. He vaults over one of the soldiers and tries to jam his kunai under the helmet, but the armour is fused together, revealing nothing of the body underneath. The soldier shakes him off, neck clanking. He tries again, narrowly avoiding another round of the purple fire. _Another_ soldier appears as Naruto’s kunai _clinks!_ against stone, and this one smashes through the bridge and sends them all plummeting to the ground.

Naruto kicks off one of the many stone chest-plates surrounding him and flips back onto the remains of the bridge, the sandy wind scratching against his face. His clone _poofs!_ out of existence not far away with a blade through its shoulder, leaving all of the soldiers turning their attention to Naruto instead. Lines of chakra glint in the sunlight as the soldiers rotate towards him. Naruto blinks, his gaze drifting upwards in search of the source until he has to squint in the harsh, golden light.

“Hey, dumbass!”

The voice snaps Naruto’s attention down again, just in time to avoid losing his head to a claw. Someone lands atop one of the soldiers in a blur of black and white, a blade surrounded by lightning-like chakra in their hand. The stranger – a boy, it’s just a _kid_ – drives the blade through the chakra threads behind the soldier and Naruto watches, agape, as the soldier clatters like the many stone towers to the ground.

It doesn’t get up again.

Naruto leaps free of the fray, twirling the kunai in his hand. The boy follows suit, approaching Naruto like a smug cat. He looks to be about nine or ten years old and he’s a _midget_ ; the white blade is almost as long as his arm. His hair is just as shockingly white and the mask over the lower half of his face is oddly reminiscent of Naruto’s lazy, air-headed, _brilliant_ sensei. Except this kid is – well – _a kid_ , and the Kakashi-sensei that Naruto knows is tall and slouchy and doesn’t have both of his eyes.

“Did the Fourth’s seal _shrink_ you?”

The boy’s eyes snap to Naruto, dark and angry but lacking recognition. “Are you braindead as well as blind?”

Naruto – blinks. “Wha – _hey_! You take that back!”

The boy shrugs, ducking away from the demanding point of Naruto’s kunai. “Prove to me it isn’t true,” he drawls, vanishing in a body-flicker as the soldiers amass around them. He tries to cut more of the chakra threads but the soldiers fight closer together now, guarding each other’s backs with pummelling fists and great blazes of purple chakra-fire. The boy is fast but overconfident, all but daring the soldiers to attack him. Just as he slices through one of the chakra threads, two stone hands snatch him from the air and _fling_ him off the bridge. He yells and tries to catch himself - and misses, disappearing from sight. Naruto yells too, heart in his throat, throwing a chain of his shadow clones from the bridge. The kid cries out in pain as Naruto seizes his arm, and then above them there’s a yell of warning as the soldiers start hacking away at Naruto’s clones.

The chain breaks. Naruto’s stomach drops as hot air rushes up around him. Acting desperately, he uses the initial momentum to throw the kid to safety and then brings his hands together for another mass shadow clone jutsu, watching the boy’s blade – the boy’s _chakra-blade_ – spin out of sight.

“Holy shit!” Naruto yells, finally remembering his own chakra-blade just as a stone claw smashes him into the ground.

It’s a long way down to the city streets and he hits the ground _hard_. “Fuck!” he roars, dazed but not defeated, hoping the kid had a softer landing wherever he ended up. The soldiers descend, stone-cold and slow. Naruto scrambles up out of the rubble and draws his chakra-blade, but it’s too late. Purple-white light blazes across his vision, and he has just enough time to slice through the fire – to no avail! – before the blast tears open the city street and throws Naruto underground.

Beneath the spiralling towers and the sun-reaching spires, there is another city, this one smaller and overgrown, and already scattered amongst the rubble before Naruto crashes down upon it. His ears ring from the impact, his vision wobbling white. Pieces of the ceiling of the building he’s fallen through crumble down around him. He curses and struggles to find his footing, teetering like a drunkard and blood dripping down his face. The gnash of blades suggests the soldiers are closing in.

“ _Shit_ ,” Naruto slurs, clutching his head. He nearly pokes his eye out with the chakra-blade when he wipes away the blood. The world leans around him and he screws his eyes shut. He draws together his chakra for another shadow clone – and he’s not sure if he’s seeing double when a blond-haired man dives towards him, the man’s white, almost fox-like mask expressionless, but a Konohan chakra-blade held securely in his hand.

They slam together – Naruto and his maybe-clone – and then the world flickers in a burst of yellow light. Gone is the underground city and the forest of spires, and now Naruto finds himself in the dark and the quiet of a back-alley, his maybe-not-clone setting him down gently on the ground. Two more men appear in a body-flicker, neither the boy from earlier, and though Naruto’s head is spinning and blood drips down into his eyes, he brings up his chakra-blade in defence. It probably won’t do much good – and it doesn’t, his maybe-not-clone laughing softly and laying his hand over Naruto’s, lowering the blade to the ground.

“It’s all right, we’re Konohan shinobi too.”

That’s good enough for Naruto. “M’head,” he says, trying to be helpful. “Ow?”

One of the other men crouches down. There’s something familiar about his wild, red hair and encompassing chakra. Naruto’s brain can’t focus enough to put it together and he blinks slowly at the man, thinking of crisps, and dango, and Chōji.

“Let me take a look, kid,” says not-Chōji. His mask looks like it has a big white moustache. It would look even sillier on the white-haired kid and Naruto startles away from the green glow of the medical jutsu as he remembers the little boy.

“There was a kid,” he says, slurring a bit. He looks to his not-clone, gut telling him that this man is the leader of the group. “We were fighting the – things. I dunno if –”

“I will locate him,” announces the third and final man. He disappears before Naruto can get a good look at him.

“Verdict?” not-Naruto asks, inclining his head towards not-Chōji. Naruto would guess that he’s smiling even though his face is completely hidden. Only his sunflower-yellow hair is visible and yet there’s something about him – something familiar.

“Might take me awhile to get through all this,” replies not-Chōji, his hands alight in green chakra. “I’d like to take him back to camp, if possible.”

“Wait, wait,” Naruto interrupts, gripping his not-clone’s arm. “My team. I need to find my team –”

“I'm not sure you’re up for that,” says not-Chōji.

“Agreed,” says not-Naruto, nodding once. He doesn’t force himself free of Naruto’s grasp. “If they’re as tenacious as you, then they’ll be fine for a little longer. Now sit tight, I’m going to thunder step us back to camp, okay? You might feel a little dizzy.”

 _Dizzy_ doesn’t quite cover it, but by the time Naruto’s head has righted itself enough that he could complain, he’s settled down on a futon in front of a fire, and the last thing he processes before slipping into sleep is not-Naruto sitting across the fire and taking off his mask.

"You're the Fourth Hokage," Naruto breathes, and this time his not-clone's laughter is startled and high.

"I think I'd know if I was the Hokage, kid," Namikaze Minato ( _Namikaze Minato! Holy shit!_ ) replies, not unkindly but not _not_ firmly, like the Lord Third or a sensei - or a _dad_.

 _Minato-sensei was brilliant_ , Kakashi-sensei had once said, book in one hand and the other ruffling Naruto's hair. _But as thick as bricks, too._

"Uh-huh," Naruto replies, crossing his arms sceptically. There’s no mistaking the man before him as the face on the Hokage Mountain. He’s looked up at that face, climbed it, _defaced it_ too many times not to recognise it. And yet the Fourth Hokage _can’t_ be here pouring over maps, wherever here is, since he died _years_ ago. The seal on Naruto’s stomach is proof of that.

"Where are we?" Naruto asks, hoping this line of enquiry will hurt his brain less. The Fourth Hokage. _In the flesh_. Or, at the very least, an almost perfect imitation of him - but not completely perfect because what idiot would pretend to be Namikaze Minato and _not_ know he was the Hokage?

"Rōran, in the Land of Wind," Minato says, handing over a canteen of water. It’s morning now but the desert sun never seems to set. It’s sweltering. Even in the shade of the camp, Naruto can feel his face frying in the heat. "You _must've_ hit your head hard."

"But Rōran's a ruin," Naruto reasons, gulping down the water. Hopefully the other members of Minato’s team will collect some more on their way back from wherever they’ve gone. Even the kid’s not here; Naruto hasn’t seen him since their battle on the bridge. "This can't be the same place? Unless Mukade did something real freaky with your seal -”

 _The Fourth_ , Naruto remembers, almost spewing water like a fountain as he does, _specialised in space-time manipulation jutsu_.

“My seal?”

_Oh shit._

"The Fourth's seal was on the chakra-whatsamadosit! In Rōran! Mukade unlocked it or something and there was this big flash of light and I really _am_ in a different dimension!! What do I _DO_!? I need to get back! I can't be stuck here -!"

“Whoa, whoa, easy," Minato says, calm despite his look of alarm. "Run through it from the beginning. What happened?”

Naruto takes a deep breath, calming himself. Then he recounts the events of the past week, explaining the mission request from the Land of Wind and their task to track down the missing-nin, Mukade. There’s not much he can say about the Fourth’s sealing jutsu but he tries his best, explaining the strange light that engulfed his team and waking up, alone, to the sound of singing from a red-haired girl.

Minato listens patiently, humming as though in deep thought. He probably is since he’s a _genius_ and Naruto can’t help but feel stupid in his presence. There’s something so - so _sensible_ about Minato that Naruto finds solace in, and it’s not hard to imagine him as the Fourth Hokage, as someone dependable and strong, and someone the village loves.

“I suppose if I - or a _version_ of me - sealed the Ryūmyaku with a thunder kunai, then it’s possible you’ve been transported through time, rather than space,” Minato says, rocking his head as Naruto does when listening to Jiraiya’s teachings. “Not that it probably makes much of a difference to you…”

It's probably supposed to make a difference, but Naruto has no idea.

“So I’m in the _past_?”

“I’d gather so, if there’s been a Fourth Hokage in your village. Lord Third is still in power at the moment.” Minato sighs, dropping his head into his hand. “Hopefully this won’t complicate things. This is far beyond our mission parameters, but -”

“You’ll help me, right!?” Naruto asks, leaning forward to better inflict his puppy-dog eyes.

Minato smiles. “Of course. You did help my student yesterday, after all. You should refrain from mentioning too many details about the future though - we don’t want to accidentally alter anything.”

“But -”

“Sensei!”

The kid appears first, body-flickering down into the camp. Not-Chōji follows soon after, pulling his mask up off his face. He has the friendly roundness and purple markings of Chōji too, and if this is the _past_ as Minato says it is, then maybe he’s another Akimichi. Naruto could possibly figure out who if given the time but his attention is drawn by the white-haired kid from the afternoon before. Apart from a bandage around his upper-arm, he doesn’t look particularly worse for wear. Little kids have a knack for bouncing back from injuries anyway - Konohamaru certainly does - and the white-haired boy appears energetic enough. In fact, his ceaseless energy seems at odds with what Naruto knows about him already - which isn’t much except the fact that he’s snarky, smug, and grows up to be a weird old man.

“YOU!” Naruto roars, leaping to his feet. Minato’s cheery _anything to report?_ sputters out at the bellow, and Naruto’s accusing finger almost takes out at least one pair of eyes as he rounds on the kid. He’s twice as tall as the boy and a hundred times as loud, and only one of these things is still true in the future where Naruto and Kakashi meet again. “You’re - you’re so TINY!”

“What?” Little Kakashi drawls, a familiar sound. His glower is straight out of Naruto’s memories but the lack of sharingan is jarring, and Naruto has to hop in place to vent out his excitement.

“You’re so small!” he can’t help but shriek, throwing his head back with laughter. _What the fuck, what the FUCK,_ he thinks, reeling from this Kakashi’s teeny little mask and oversized mop of hair. To think this midget of a shinobi took down one of the soldiers yesterday; Naruto _howls_ , sure that he’ll never be able to look at Kakashi-sensei the same way again, and throws up his hands. “This is the best day EVER.”

Little Kakashi gestures a thumb in his direction, addressing Minato. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s had a bit of a shock, that’s all,” Minato replies, chakra shimmering happily as Naruto rolls around with glee. “Come sit down and I’ll explain. Is Shibi on his way?”

Once everyone has gathered, Minato briefs his team on Naruto’s situation. Introductions are exchanged: Aburame Shibi is probably someone Naruto knows (although he’s not sure) and not-Chōji is Chōji’s _dad_. Minato and the teeny Kakashi hardly need introducing, much to Naruto’s delight. He’s never going to be over how _pint-sized_ Kakashi-sensei used to be. In turn, Naruto introduces himself and explains that his team may still need locating; he barely remembers not to mention his surname (just in case) and doesn’t refer to any of his team by name, either. Yamato probably won’t be an issue, although his wood style might raise some eyebrows, but Kakashi-sensei is - well - Kakashi-sensei, and there’s already one Kakashi in Rōran.

Time travel is a _mess_.

“Our mission is to protect Queen Sāra and that’s our priority,” Minato explains, not that Naruto has any idea who that is. “We’ve been investigating a man by the name of Anrokuzan. He’s the minister of this city and we’ve reason to believe he was involved in the death of the former queen. It may be that he’s connected to your missing-nin.”

Anything’s possible right now, so Naruto nods. “I guess I better find this guy, then,” he says, scratching the whisker marks on his cheek. Investigating Anrokuzan can't be too difficult, and if nothing else, Naruto's glad for something to do that isn't searching aimlessly for his team.

“Shibi, you’ve got the first shift with the queen,” Minato continues, addressing each member of his team in turn. “Chōza and I will patrol the perimeter. Kakashi, stay low and avoid the puppets if you can. Let me know what's going on with the citizens. Naruto -” And here Minato’s eyes soften from battle-ready to something Naruto cannot name. It’s an expression he’s seen on Iruka’s face many times and similar to something in Kakashi-sensei’s eyes - but happier. “I’m not your squad leader, but if you’re looking for Anrokuzan then stick with Shibi. He’ll be able to sneak you into the palace.”

"Gotcha," Naruto says.

“Understood,” says Minato’s team, body-flickering away.

“Naruto,” Minato says, reaching out to stall him. His hand doesn’t quite brush Naruto’s shoulder before it disappears into his weapons pouch, and Naruto feels himself missing it even though it was never there. “One last thing. Here, take this.”

A thunder kunai. Awe and sadness and delight swell behind Naruto’s eyes.

“My sensei has one of these,” he hears himself admitting, taking the three-pronged blade.

This seems to surprise Minato. It surprised Naruto, too, when he saw it on Kakashi-sensei's mantlepiece. “Do they know how to use it? No, no, not that it matters now, I suppose. Channel your chakra through it just like a chakra-blade and I’ll come to you. Got it?”

“Got it,” Naruto echoes, and as Minato slides on his mask, they both disappear.

The palace is yet another tower, spiralling higher over the rest of the city. It casts a thin, blade-like shadow over the central plaza and at its peak is a humongous metallic sun. One large balcony juts out from the tower to overlook the plaza, but there's nobody upon it except two more of those puppet soldiers. The plaza is empty too, completely devoid of people or animals or any evidence that anyone passes by at all, which strikes Naruto as strange. A city this large should be bustling with people. Rōran as it stands now is magnificent - but it already feels like a ruin.

Naruto and Shibi perch on one of the many palace window-sills, out of sight. The glass mosaic depicts a snake or a dragon of some sort devouring a lavender sun.

“You should avoid antagonising the puppets until your injuries have healed,” Shibi suggests, his voice muffled behind his mask.

Naruto wonders if _he_ should be wearing a mask too, but he supposes he won't be on any register or in the bingo book yet. Still, he is a Konohan shinobi and while he never paid much attention in history, he's not sure the Lands of Wind and Fire are buddies right now. He thinks of his map and the doodle of Gaara and sighs.

“I can sneak around, don’t worry about me,” he says, adjusting his forehead-protector. He can't bring himself to remove it but he tries to flatten his hair over Konoha's leaf. “Where can I find this Kuzan guy?”

Shibi presses his hand against the palace wall. A stream of bugs crawl out from under his sleeve and scurry up the wall, along the multi-coloured glass and into the cracks of the stone. Even more pour down onto the balcony, scurrying behind the two puppets like a shadow, and Naruto tries not to cringe. He’s seen Shino use his family jutsu a hundred times before, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome or any less weird.

“My bugs will alert me to any danger that the queen may face. Follow them. They will guide you to Anrokuzan.”

Naruto's not sure the bugs can blink but he gets the impression that they do. “Err - thanks bug-guy!”

"It's Shibi -"

Naruto follows the bugs around the tower until they crawl through a small, glass-less opening that probably serves as a window. He squeezes in after them and drops down into a staircase, hugging the wall to listen for any sounds. The bugs scurry away almost silently. There's no clanking of armour or grinding of stone, so Naruto assumes he's safe for now.

"Need better security," he mumbles to himself, hopping the steps two at a time.

The bugs lead him further into the palace, through mostly deserted corridors and up _a billion_ stairs. He has to duck away from the occasional person in official-looking robes, floor-length and spun in red and purple, but otherwise, the path is clear. For a building so large, there's not many people about. Naruto glimpses what he assumes to be lower-ranking palace staff darting between rooms, but since they're civilians, they're easy enough to avoid.

One room opens out much larger than the others, long and wide with a high ceiling, and a fancy chair sat at one end. Naruto peeks his head around the door, much to the chagrin of about two dozen ladybirds, and then promptly ducks away again as another man in the official robes walks past.

"Is that him? Anroku-whatsit?"

A beetle twitches. Naruto has no idea what that means. He pops his head back around the door, watching probably-Anrokuzan walk across the room. Near the throne, a young woman is kneeling, red hair like blood down her back. Naruto can't quite make out their conversation, but the ladybirds are restless so he doesn't try and approach.

Anrokuzan doesn't _look_ like Mukade; he looks older and less sickly, and his facial hair hides much of his face. The Mukade that Naruto remembers was thin to the point of malnutrition, clean-shaved, and a bit of a weirdo. Anrokuzan just looks like a boring old man, but if Minato suspects him, then there must be more about him than meets the eye.

That doesn't mean Anrokuzan is Mukade though. Naruto frowns, pondering his options. He could confront Anrokuzan - but then what? If he _is_ Mukade, then Naruto will have to fight him alone. And if he isn't, then that could cause trouble for Minato's team. And Naruto doesn't want to do that. He bites his lip, watching Shibi's beetles dart in and out of hiding. Perhaps he should make good on his promise and sneak around a bit more too - maybe Anrokuzan has a secret lair or an office or somewhere to hide his plans.

"All right," Naruto whispers, striking his fist into his hand. He retreats back out of the room and resolves to find some answers. The bugs dash around him, checking the corners and skittering under the doors. They're convenient in a gruesome kind of way, like a mini version of Kakashi-sensei's pack except a thousand times as abundant. Shibi's bugs can fit through gaps that even Pakkun can't. It's been a while since Kakashi-sensei summoned his dogs, and Naruto misses them right up until the moment he trips over Bull's massive rear-end and face-plants into another room of the palace, white dots and pain flashing across his eyes.

"Your stealth is as lacking as ever, Naruto."

Naruto rolls over, earning himself one of Bull's slobbery licks. Yelping, he pushes Bull's droopy mouth away, looking to the man standing by the desk. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"The one and only," Kakashi-sensei says, offering a hand. He's not wearing his forehead-protector over his face but his sharingan-eye is closed. The scar that bisects it disappears up into his fringe. "You all right?"

Naruto nods, patting Bull's massive head. The dog plods back over to the doorway, keeping guard. He eyes Shibi's bugs with slow, heavy eyes, and then clearly decides they're not worth the effort and flops back down.

"What're you doing in here?" Naruto asks, taking in the room for the first time. It's smaller than the throne room, probably about the size of his apartment if the rooms didn't have any partitions. Bookcases line the walls and jut out from the corners, each packed with rows and stacks of books. There are more on the desk beneath the window, as though someone has been periodically fetching more but not returning them. That _sounds_ like something Kakashi-sensei would do.

"Same as you, I imagine: snooping," Kakashi-sensei replies, his eyes half-moons with amusement. He lifts a hand to the back of Naruto's head, where Chōza had healed him the night before. "What happened?"

"Those stupid puppet things," Naruto admits, batting his hand away. "They can _fly_."

"Who healed you? Yamato?"

" _Err_. You wouldn't believe me if I told you?"

"Try me. I take it you've gathered this is Rōran?" Kakashi-sensei gestures to one of the ledgers on the desk. Naruto doesn't understand much of what's written but it seems to be court records of some sort. Each of the entries is dated with Wind's sun calendar.

"Yeah, like - the past, right? There's some Konohan shinobi here I didn't recognise."

(And some he did recognise).

"Maa, probably best to avoid them," Kakashi-sensei says, adding the ledger to the pile. "Relations were starting to get a little rocky with Suna at this point and we don't want to get involved."

 _Whoops_ , Naruto thinks, and Kakashi-sensei sighs, reading the thought from his face.

"Do they know who you are?"

"Kind of? They - uh - they might be able to help us get back. One guy, at least. Don't you remember this stuff?"

"What?"

An ear-splitting scream echoes through the palace. Bull lifts his head with no real urgency, slobber dripping down to his paws. Naruto body-flickers back out of the room, scattering Shibi's bugs as he charges through the doors. There's a familiar call of _Naruto, wait!_ that he ignores, locating the nearest window and wrenching it open, diving through.

The central plaza teeters into sight, packed with people. Naruto doesn't waste time wondering how they all appeared - and he hardly has the chance, either, throwing an arm over his face as a swarm of bugs dive-bomb past, swirling and squirming in the air. They fly down the side of the palace and then swoop over the crowd; there's a broken balcony just feet below Naruto, and lying upon it are two of the puppet soldiers, motionless, with beetles and ants crawling all over them.

Kakashi-sensei appears on the balcony in a flicker of chakra. He crouches to investigate the puppets but the strings are cut, detached from their source. It's futile. Naruto looks instead to the crowd, still waving and cheering, and then over to the tower where the swarm is swirling. Its formation breaks apart to reveal the red-haired girl from earlier, and she shrieks again in her haste to escape.

Naruto jumps over, meeting Shibi as he lands. "What happened?"

"I'm uncertain," Shibi replies, dispelling his chakra-bugs. He walks past Naruto and kneels before the girl, holding out a hand. "Are you all right, Your Majesty? Forgive me if my bugs alarmed you."

Queen Sāra turns wide eyes from Shibi, Naruto, and the fatal drop to the crowd below. Affront wilds her expression, and fear has her drawing back. "Who are you? I demand to know!"

Shibi hesitates. He hasn't yet removed his mask and the multi-eyed effect of its design must be unsettling for the queen. It's unsettling for _Naruto_ , and he's seen some crazy shit. "We are shinobi from Konoha," he eventually admits, tone hardly changing but sounding reluctant all the same. He inclines his head to Naruto, who gestures at his forehead-protector.

"Shinobi?” Sāra parrots, not looking reassured in the slightest. “Are you here to assassinate me?"

"What?” Naruto cries. "No!"

Shibi’s answer is less convincing. "I cannot divulge the details of our mission," he says, which has Naruto flustering to correct him.

Sāra ignores Naruto entirely, honing in on Shibi’s more-than-vague reply. As a queen, she probably only listens to whatever she wants, anyway, and she _did_ just fall off a building, so it’s no surprise that she’s quick to place the blame. "So you _are_! Was it you who pushed me from the balcony? I assure you, my people won't stand for it! My -"

"Your Majesty," comes the interruption, and this time it's Kakashi body-flickering over. The sensei Kakashi, not the little Kakashi, and if Shibi's as surprised as Naruto was, then nothing about his body language gives it away.

Kakashi-sensei's appearance does serve to halt Sāra's tirade. He pulls a mission scroll out of his bag - _their_ mission scroll, a from-the-future scroll - and pops it open. He doesn't hand it over but reveals just enough of the official signatures and stamps that it could be believable. “Since you’ve recently come of age to rule Rōran, our village leaders decided to oversee your protection in this politically delicate time. We are not here to assassinate you. Shinobi are adept at working behind the scenes, so to speak. We can better protect you from out of sight. Please forgive us for not revealing ourselves to you sooner."

"I - of course," Sāra says, visibly overwhelmed. No doubt that was Kakashi-sensei's intention. One good look at the mission scroll would reveal Gaara's name, the real mission parameters, and most damningly the _date_ , but judging from Sāra's expression, she's not all that knowledgeable in relations between Suna and Konoha.

Neither's Naruto, at least not for this time, but he's not the one they're trying to fool.

"You said somebody pushed you?" Kakashi-sensei presses, moving the conversation along. The less time Sāra has to doubt them, the better. Then maybe she can blame the _right_ person this time; and with any luck, it’ll be Mukade, and they can wrap this whole mess up and go home.

Sāra flusters, her bravado fading. "Well - yes, but I must've imagined it. Why would anyone -"

“Can you think of anyone who might want you dead?” Kakashi-sensei asks, putting away the scroll.

“ _Dead_? I wouldn’t’ve - I mean, surely -”

“A fall from that height would’ve killed you,” Kakashi-sensei says, as no-nonsense as ever. “Fortunately, my teammate was able to assist you.”

“Yeah! You should be thanking us!” Naruto says, pointing an accusing finger at her. Kakashi-sensei is swift to bat it down.

“Well, I - yes, you’re right.” Sāra's voice wobbles with fear, but then she takes a deep breath and bows towards Shibi. “Thank you for saving my life. Please excuse my earlier accusations. If you could return me to the palace, too, I would be most grateful.”

That sounds great to Naruto except for one glaring issue. “But someone in the palace tried to kill you!”

“No one would do that, I assure you,” Sāra replies, her voice rising in anger again. “My people have only ever supported me and I will not allow you to slander them. I’m sure they’re terribly worried about me right now.”

Naruto peers down to the plaza. The people below seem not to have noticed their missing queen at all. Sāra looks equally oblivious about how strange this is.

Kakashi-sensei glances to Shibi. Whatever he sees through Shibi's mask prompts him to shrug. "As Her Majesty wishes. Naruto, would you mind?"

Naruto pouts. "Me? Fine. Hold tight, Your Majesty; I'm gonna carry you, 'kay?"

Regardless of Sāra's opinion on the matter, Naruto scoops her up and vaults them both over the broken balcony and back into the palace, Sāra screaming in his ear all the while. The commotion doesn't so much as stir the crowd below, but a half dozen puppets and the man standing amongst them all turn at their arrival. The man - Anrokuzan, because of _course_ he's not suspicious enough already - sweeps forward as Sāra finds her footing. The puppets click and clank behind him. Naruto's not sure he wants to leave Sāra with this lot, but Sāra doesn't appear to mind the creepy soldiers as she rushed into Anrokuzan's arms.

Kankuro's puppets are weirder, Naruto supposes. But at least they don't pretend they won't eat you.

"Are you all right, Your Majesty?” Anrokuzan asks, checking her over. He looks every part of a concerned old man but if someone pushed Sāra from the balcony, then he’s a suspect just like everyone else in this building. “I sent some soldiers out in search of you but I'm glad to see that wasn't necessary. Who’s this young man with you?”

“This is a Konohan shinobi; his teammate saved me from the fall. They say they’ve been charged with my protection. Did you know anything about this?”

“Unfortunately not,” Anrokuzan replies, and Naruto grits his teeth, sensing a lie. “Suna seldom send shinobi so far from its borders, let alone Konoha. But it’s an honour for Rōran to be considered important enough for shinobi protection. If this man’s team saved your life, then we should thank them properly. Your coronation is a time of celebration, after all.”

Despite seeming torn by the suggestion, Sāra steels herself. She looks younger in Anrokuzan’s presence, less like a queen and more like a child beside a well-meaning uncle. When she turns back around, her fiery temper is now a cool determination, and behind her, Anrokuzan’s eyes are small and shrewd.

“Tell me, shinobi, what is your name?” Sāra asks.

“Err - Naruto.”

“Naruto. I invite you and your team to dine here at the palace tonight - as a token of my gratitude, and the gratitude of the people, for saving my life. Would your team leader be amenable to this offer?”

Naruto doesn’t know what ‘amenable’ means, but he thinks of Kakashi-sensei’s exasperation and Minato’s - _something_ \- and then his mind drifts to nutrient bars and water rations and he hears himself saying, “Uh, yeah sure.”

Kakashi-sensei’s response isn’t _yeah sure_.

“For the love of - it's always you, isn't it?”

“I just didn’t know what to say!” Naruto wails, loud enough that the dispersing crowd below can probably hear. An array of colour wobbles out of the central plaza as the people return to their homes, banners and signs hefted over their shoulders. It’s a shame there aren’t any market stalls or fast food vendors lining the streets selling trinkets, sweets, and games, but perhaps the culture here celebrates a coronation in another way - perhaps inside, safe from the wind and sand. Maybe they, too, have feasts as grand as the one Naruto has agreed that Minato’s team will attend tonight.

“At least she’s only seen the three of us, right?” he reasons, scrounging for a silver lining. “We can - like - pretend we’re the whole team!"

“You and I shouldn’t be drawing attention to ourselves _anyway_ ,” Kakashi-sensei sighs. “But you’re right. Shibi, the rest of your team might as well stay behind.”

“I cannot make that decision without first consulting my team leader.”

“Right,” Kakashi-sensei says, and then an expression that Naruto really _doesn’t_ like passes across his face. “You said Minato-sensei, right. Guess we better bite the bullet, then?” He pulls his forehead-protector out from his pocket and ties it back on, hiding his scar. He looks like he wants to pull it down over his other eye, too, and pretend none of this is happening, but Shibi’s signal-flare dashes those dreams.

 _Minato-sensei was brilliant_ , Kakashi-sensei had once said, book held up to hide his face. Had he ruffled Naruto's hair as a distraction, to stop Naruto from prying into the memories and grief? Naruto shuffles closer, guilt hanging his head. If they were thrown back in time to when Lord Third was alive, then he knows he wouldn't be able to keep himself together. Kakashi-sensei's always been _weird_ about emotions, but Naruto knows that seeing Minato again is the last thing he wants.

“Hey, sensei -”

“It’s fine, Naruto. I think we can survive one dinner.”

If they were back in Konoha, Naruto would press his cheek against Kakashi-sensei's shoulder to be a nuisance. Being close to him has always been reassuring. Kakashi-sensei's chakra is white fire and irritated sparks, but Naruto thinks it tickles. He can’t believe there was once a time when he thought Kakashi-sensei was _intimidating_.

“Yeah, sure,” Naruto replies, although Team 7’s track record suggests otherwise. “But that’s not what I - I guess I didn’t know how to tell you about -”

Kakashi-sensei hums. “It must’ve been a surprise, seeing him, hmm?”

Naruto crosses his arms. “Well _yeah_ but why don’t you - like - disguise yourself or something? ‘Least then he won’t know who _you_ are. If that would help. I dunno. I mean, there’s already a little you running around, so…”

Kakashi-sensei smiles - and it looks like a smile this time, turning up under his mask. “The concern is touching, Naruto, but I think I’ll manage. Are you all right?”

“Wha - yeah. Yeah, I’m fine! I didn’t tell ‘im anything about anything. Oh no, wait, I did call him ‘the Fourth Hokage’ ‘cause that’s how I know him, you know -”

“I know,” Kakashi-sensei says; _and of_ course _he knows_ , Naruto thinks, colour warming his whisker-marked cheeks as Kakashi-sensei offers something like a hug. It’s a pretty pathetic hug, all things considered, one-armed and bumping shoulders and lasting all of a second. But Naruto smiles and Kakashi-sensei clears his throat awkwardly. “Let’s focus on finding Yamato and getting home, okay?”

“Okay,” Naruto says, and he squeezes Kakashi-sensei in a proper hug just as the rest of Shibi’s team arrive.

Minato body-flickers in first, silent and fast. He’s unspeakably cool until he catches sight of Kakashi-sensei and freezes in his tracks, and even with Chōza’s reflexes saving them from barrelling into each other, it’s a close call.

“Whoa kid,” Chōza says, and it’s unclear exactly who the ‘kid’ is here. He claps Minato on the shoulder, laughing from deep within himself. “They grow up fast, don’t they?”

“Err - sure." Minato lifts off his mask and hooks it to his belt, and his mouth has fallen open as wide as his eyes. “Kakashi, I take it?”

Kakashi-sensei's face is unnaturally cheery. It reminds Naruto of their disastrous mission in Wave when Kakashi-sensei had struggled to keep them alive. He looks like he's facing the same undefeatable foe now - except it's Minato, who's _smiling_.

“Yo. Hope Naruto hasn’t been too much of a hassle.”

" _Hey!_ "

Minato blinks owlishly, bemused but clearly pleased. He tucks his hair behind his ears, eyes squinting as his smile widens. “You’re his sen -?”

“What the _fuck_ ,” blurts Little Kakashi, sand and lightning sparking together as he body-flickers down. The instantaneous aggression is intimidating in the same way that a week-old puppy is, and Naruto can’t help but grin as Little Kakashi barks at his future counterpart. “You’re supposed to be _me_?”

This is more like the reaction that Naruto was expecting.

"Hey-o," Kakashi-sensei chimes, waggling his fingers. Something in his expression makes Little Kakashi balk. "Don't suppose you fancy attending a royal dinner in my place tonight, do you?"

“What?” says Little Kakashi.

“What?” says Minato; and even though Team Minato have known Naruto for less than a day, they all turn to him, as one, to explain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments are appreciated :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of Kakashi in this chapter 👍 And some plot. A teeny bit of plot.

Those unfortunate enough to be roped into the dinner - Minato, Shibi, Kakashi (the tall one, despite his best efforts) and Naruto - henge themselves into more appropriate attire for the night. Or, everyone but Naruto switches out of their masks and uniforms (Kakashi-sensei henges his black mask into another black mask), while Naruto flounders around with the henge and achieves nothing more than a slightly less orange version of his jacket.

"I've seen you transform into fuma shuriken before," Kakashi-sensei remarks, hiding a Tenten-worthy amount of kunai up his sleeves.

"I know!” Naruto huffs, gathering together his chakra for another try. “But that was _all_ of me. Transforming just a bit of me is dumb."

Little Kakashi, who’s standing back with Chōza and all but _sparking_ with pre-teen angst, scoffs at this. “A full transformation should be harder than a partial one.”

Kakashi-sensei doesn’t look over. In fact, after their initial greeting, the two Kakashis haven’t exchanged a word at all. Kakashi-sensei doesn’t seem particularly bothered by his younger self, but Little Kakashi has been avoiding eye-contact so vehemently that even Naruto’s noticed.

“For anybody else, yes, but Naruto has too much chakra,” Kakashi-sensei says, and if he had his book out, he'd be peering over it now. “Then why _don’t_ you transform all of you, Naruto? Just make yourself similar enough that the queen won’t notice.”

That's… not a bad idea. "I could've thought of that!" Naruto insists, transforming into an almost identical copy of himself. He darkens his hair and increases his height (just a little bit), and then conjures up formal wear for the meal.

"Keep the whiskers, she'll have noticed them already," Kakashi-sensei suggests, prompting Naruto to henge again. "And that's not - d'you even know how to tie an _obi_?"

"Uhh."

Chōza steps in and adjusts the _obi_ while Kakashi-sensei is busy sighing.

"I'm not familiar with your clan marks," Chōza says, his eyes smiling as he considers Naruto's whiskered cheeks. "But it would be such a shame to cover them. They connect us to our families. The queen should know that we bear them with pride."

Distantly, in that place only Naruto knows, the Nine-Tails starts to laugh.

" _Uh_ \- yeah, yeah! I have a clan. Totally. They're all - like - super great!" Naruto lies, hoping Kakashi-sensei has suddenly developed mind-reading powers and can hear his cry for help. He hopes it isn’t too obvious that he looks anywhere but Minato. "I'll tell the queen all about it."

"It's best if we don't discuss the future any more than necessary, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei says, and Naruto's brain screams _THANK GOD!!_

"Agreed," says Minato, and maybe he heard Naruto’s plea too. "Shibi and I can carry most of the conversation tonig -"

Shibi coughs once.

"- _err_ , well, I can carry most of the conversation. I'm the most up-to-date with diplomatic concerns in Wind anyway. Although,” and here Minato laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. “I'm sure you're both very knowledgeable, being from the future -”

"Why don't you remember any of this?" Little Kakashi butts in, glancing at his one-eyed counterpart just long enough to direct his ire. It’s an awful amount of ire for someone so small. "You're me, aren't you?"

"Maa, who knows," Kakashi-sensei says, palms up with a shrug. "Maybe something messed with my memories."

"My seals manipulate time _and_ space," Minato reminds them, looking gently at Little Kakashi. His expressions towards each of the Kakashis aren't wholly different; Kakashi-sensei clearly mystifies him, his hidden eye and flipped personality representing a future full of questions, and yet Minato looks upon him as proudly he does Little Kakashi. It must be difficult for him to distinguish the bratty student from the grown-up sensei - which Naruto doesn't understand at _all_ , because as far as he can tell, the two Kakashis are polar opposites in almost every way.

"It could be that this is another dimension entirely," Minato reasons. "There’s no guarantee that the things we see here will happen. You could grow up to be completely different."

"Hopefully," Little Kakashi grumbles.

Kakashi-sensei lays a hand on Naruto’s shoulder and smiles without smiling.

Even in a palace, diplomatic dinners are _boring_. Their welcome isn't exactly warm but it isn't the open hostility that Naruto's been half-expecting from Anrokuzan either, so that's probably a win for politics. Kakashi-sensei is particularly cheery all evening and Minato is weirdly _not_. Iruka-sensei had described something like this once; _sometimes there's nothing a shinobi can do but pretend, Naruto_ , he'd said, _especially at dinner_ , and Naruto hadn't understood then as he does now. Iruka-sensei hadn't meant dinner at Ramen Ichiraku or Team 10's favourite barbecue place - no, he'd meant fancy meals in even fancier palaces, where half the table could kill you and the other half _wants_ to.

If Kakashi-sensei can pretend to be enjoying himself, then so can Naruto. The food is glamorous and never-ending, not as good as Ramen Ichiraku but then nothing can be, and the building is pretty, Naruto supposes. The table upon which dinner is served could seat the entirety of the Konoha 12 _and_ their senseis, and just like everything else in this city, it's grand and new and mostly empty. Even with Sāra, Anrokuzan, and some other councilmen, they barely fill half of the table. Sāra sits at the head with Anrokuzan and Naruto at either side; _you're a similar age_ , Minato had said (you know, _like a dad_ ), taking the seat next to Anrokuzan. Naruto hadn't been able to argue, especially with Kakashi-sensei's hand on his shoulder. Shibi claimed the seat beside Minato, and though the councilmen didn't look impressed about being booted down the table, everything about Shibi seems to scare them.

All things considered, Sāra isn't that interesting to talk to. She's lived a sheltered life; never left the city, never seen the world. Wind's deserts are treacherous but beautiful and she's only ever gazed upon them, surrounding her like sea waves that she's never learnt to swim. Naruto entertains her with the places he's travelled and she listens quietly, politely, seemingly disinterested but for her eyes sparkling with wonder. It's her only saving grace, especially when she admits to never having eaten ramen; Naruto’s yell scares three councilmen out of their seats and Minato into nearly swallowing a spoon. Kakashi-sensei placates the table with a cheery smile and a swift excuse, long-since used to Naruto’s outbursts. Only Shibi seems unfazed, eyes unreadable behind his glasses.

“You are… an unusual team,” Anrokuzan comments, and ain't that the truth. “I was led to believe that Konohan shinobi typically functioned in teams of three? Seven seems excessive, especially given your… personalities.”

“Our team was hand-selected by Lord Third,” Minato says, which is only _half_ -true. “Every man has his part to play. There is no need to doubt us, Minister.”

“Naruto just takes some getting used to, that’s all,” Kakashi-sensei adds.

Naruto would complain but… he can’t deny it. He sulks down into his seat instead, arms crossed and pouting, and Sāra surprises everybody at the table by laughing. It seems to surprise her too. While everyone is pointedly not looking at her blush, Naruto catches sight of Minato’s smile.

The dinner's not quite as boring after that.

“Did you catch Anrokuzan’s slip up?” Kakashi-sensei asks after the meal, not looking at Naruto but addressing him anyway, attention drawn by Rōran’s spires and the sky. The central plaza is as empty as it has been for most of the day. There’s no evidence of the crowd from earlier, no litter or lost possessions. The palace sneaks away behind them, its coloured glass windows twinkling in the city lights. It’s cooler now that night has fallen; Suna always has been a village of two extremes, and Rōran must be the same.

Nartuto glances back to the palace as though Anrokuzan might appear. Minato and Shibi walk behind them, conversely quietly. Out of uniform, Minato doesn’t look like the Fourth Hokage that Naruto has always imagined. He’s younger, happier. History doesn’t tell of Minato’s smile or the seashell jewellery dangling from his ears.

“Uh, I wasn’t paying attention to Anrokuzan,” Naruto admits. He passed most of the dinner trying not to bore himself to death in conversation with Sāra. She’s not the one he wants to talk to – but Kakashi-sensei knows that.

Kakashi-sensei turns back too, but only for a moment. He’s hardly looked at Minato all evening, not unlike how Little Kakashi won’t look at him. Naruto can understand why Kakashi-sensei is feeling sad, but he’s not sure what it is that has Little Kakashi in such a mood. If _he_ met his future-self, he’d be thrilled!

“He mentioned our team of _seven_ shinobi,” Kakashi-sensei elaborates, drawing Naruto’s attention back.

“Oh," Naruto says, looking to each member of the team in turn. Chōza and Little Kakashi make six, so… "He can’t count?”

“Yes Naruto, he can't count. _Or_ he knows about Yamato.”

But that would mean… “So he’s _Mukade!_?”

Kakashi-sensei smiles, mask creasing around his mouth. “Could be. At the very least, it’s possible he’s bumped into Yamato.”

“Which begs the question as to why we haven’t,” Minato agrees. He steps up to Kakashi-sensei's other side and Naruto notices they're almost the same height. That must be weird for them both. Minato’s expression softens, back to his cheerful self. He must be good at pretending, too, to be a Hokage. Naruto’s not sure he could ever be like that. “Yamato’s your missing student?”

“Colleague,” Kakashi-sensei corrects as Naruto laughs at the thought of Captain Yamato as a _student_. “But yes. He should have turned up by now.”

“D’you think he’s run into trouble with those puppets?” Naruto asks, thinking back to his arrival in Rōran.

“Could be. But Yamato's a capable shinobi. I’d say he’s run into something worse."

He says this without any concern, but Naruto's eyes boggle. “Then we need to go and look for him!”

“I'll look for him,” Kakashi-sensei says, firm enough that Naruto knows not to argue. “You should rest. I’m sure Minato-sensei won’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Minato says, smiling again now that they're out of the palace. That smile does childish things to Naruto’s insides and he mentally kicks himself for the surge of longing. The whole point of concealing his name was to hide the fact they’re related; he can’t let his stupid emotions give himself away!

“We can adjust the watch to give you a place to sleep, too, Kakashi,” Minato adds.

Judging by the sour expression Kakashi-sensei fails to suppress, that's the last thing he wants. At least it’s not just Naruto having a tough time. “Maa, I’ll manage. Be on your best behaviour, Naruto.”

“I _will_ ,” Naruto whines, but Kakashi-sensei has already body-flickered away.

A slobbery dog-kiss wakes Naruto the next morning.

“I’m up, I’m up!” He shoves Shiba’s muzzle away, wiping at his face with his sleeve. It isn’t the first time an animal of any kind has woken him, but Kakashi-sensei’s ninken always look the most pleased with themselves. Shiba’s tail wags across the dirt and even Pakkun, at Naruto’s knee, has something other than perpetual boredom in his eye. Pakkun raises a paw in greeting while Shiba just pants, his tongue hanging like a worm.

“Yo, Naruto. Got yourselves into a bit of a mess here, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Naruto grumbles, still scrubbing his face. He can’t help but pet Shiba anyway, smoothing down his mohawk-like tuft of fur. Dogs are cute even when they’re annoying; but they’re not as cute as frogs, no matter how horrified Kakashi-sensei would be to hear it.

“Good morning, Naruto,” Chōza says, approaching from across the camp. No-one else seems to be present (although Minato can hide his chakra _really_ well) and Chōza explains when he catches Naruto’s puzzled look: “Minato’s on guard duty. Your sensei didn’t come back last night but I think Shibi and Kakashi are with him now. You hungry?”

Naruto accepts the bowl of breakfast, eagerly snapping open a pair of chopsticks. It’s tough to be disappointed about Minato’s absence in the presence of food. Chōza offers some strips of jerky to the dogs and then finally sets a small bag by Naruto’s leg.

“That’s for your sensei. I don’t blame him for avoiding us, but make sure he eats, hmm?”

Naruto swallows hard around the food. “Did he - uh - say anything to you about the future?”

Chōza’s eyes soften. The purple streaks across his cheeks could be tears. “No, but his absence says enough. The Kakashi I know falls all over himself to be near Minato.”

Naruto - doesn’t know what to say. Kakashi-sensei’s never fallen over himself to be near anyone - not even his dogs. Sure, he has Team 7 and the other jōnin-sensei and that weird, spandex-wearing Gai-sensei who’s always around, but it’s not the same. Losing both his Hokage and sensei in one go must’ve been _awful_. Naruto can’t imagine what it would be like to lose Kakashi-sensei - and he doesn’t _want_ to imagine it.

“It’s all right, kid. Enjoy your breakfast,” Chōza says. He reaches out to touch Naruto’s shoulder but, for whatever reason, seems to think better of it. He must be as awesome at giving hugs as Chōji since he’s Chōji’s _dad_ , and Naruto regrets the missed opportunity as Chōza walks away.

He almost kicks himself for it too. Minato is one thing but Chōza too? Getting attached to the past _has_ to be a bad idea.

 _Gotta focus on the present_ , Naruto thinks, wolfing down the food. _Mukade. Finding a way home. And -_ “Did you find Captain Yamato?”

Pakkun shakes his head. “Trail goes cold. But since you’re up, d’you wanna take a look?”

Naruto tips the last of the bowl into his mouth and wipes his chin - grimacing at the residue dog-slobber on his sleeve. Five minutes later, he’s rolled up his bedroll and thrown together his pack, and he barely remembers to grab Kakashi-sensei’s breakfast before body-flickering after the dogs.

Pakkun and Shiba lead him to the edge of the city where Rōran's spires and swirls sink into the desert waves. As Chōza said, Shibi and both Kakashis are already there, as are a few more members of Kakashi-sensei's pack. Ūhei looks like he'd rather be anywhere else (but that's pretty standard for him) and, standing next to Little Kakashi, Bull looks even larger than usual. Neither Little Kakashi nor Shibi say anything when Naruto body-flickers down, but Kakashi-sensei salutes.

"Yo. Sleep well?"

"Did you?" Naruto accuses, shoving the bag of breakfast at him. "From Chōza-sensei. Pakkun said you didn't find Captain Yamato?"

"Ah, no," Kakashi-sensei says, peeping into the bag. "His scent ends here - or starts here, I suppose. It's difficult to say with the space-time jutsu. If Yamato ended up here and then _left_ the city, then the desert makes him almost impossible to track.”

Naruto looks out to the two-toned nothingness of the sky and the sand. The Land of Wind isn’t as forgiving as Fire. He can't think of any reason to venture out into the desert rather than stay in the city, and he hopes Yamato wasn't desperate enough to.

"Where's the other end of the trail?"

Kakashi-sensei shrugs. "Open plaza. No discernible direction. He could be underground but the Ryūmyaku poses a problem. Can you feel it? It’s fainter out here in the outskirts.”

Precise chakra identification isn’t one of Naruto’s strengths but the Ryūmyaku is vast and ever-flowing like rivers under his feet. It gathers beneath the city centre as streams merge into a lake. The chakra density is so great that Naruto pictures it like a slab of steel, but it glows like molten metal and radiates like the sun; it almost hurts to look at, and he feels a headache beating behind his eyes as he tears his gaze away. Out in the desert, its presence is thinner, calmer, more like threads of amethyst spun into the sand. The mass under the city could be the spider writhing in its web. Naruto can't detect anything beyond it.

“His disappearance could be related to the missing civilians," Little Kakashi says. He looks miffed about something, standoff-ish (which Naruto is beginning to understand is normal), but the absentminded way he scratches Bull’s head suggests he can’t help himself. At least he still loves his dogs. “I've been listening out. People are being taken away in the night. There's hardly any men around anymore, just women and children. They're scared. The city stinks of it."

"Hmm,” Kakashi-sensei says, which is the closest they’ve come to talking to each other since the first day. “Since it's been over a day now, I think it's safe to say that wherever Yamato is, he's not there willingly.”

Naruto nods along, only to realise what that means with a cry: “You think Captain Yamato’s been _kidnapped_?”

“Maa, that would be like him,” Kakashi-sensei laughs, which Naruto doesn’t understand at _all._

“Perhaps my insects will have more luck in locating him,” Shibi says. “They should be better able to withstand the adverse effects of the Ryūmyaku. Do you have anything in your possession containing his chakra?”

The only thing Kakashi-sensei carries around that isn’t standardised Konohan equipment is that yucky book. He shakes his head and for a moment looks just as grumpy as Little Kakashi.

“ _Oh_ , I’ve got this,” Naruto remembers, digging out the lucky cat figurine from his supplies pouch. He brushes off the sand. “He made it with his -”

Kakashi-sensei coughs.

"That will suffice," Shibi says, accepting the figurine and the aborted answer without question. Bugs scurry out from his sleeves and swarm the figurine, wiggling and clambering over one another to inspect it. Then they spread their wings and scatter, darting back towards the city with a faint, collective hum.

“Thank you,” Shibi says, returning the figurine. It doesn’t look any worse for wear. “I will follow them and report any findings.”

“We’ll join you,” Kakashi-sensei says, motioning to his pack. “Naruto, I think mini-me's meant to be guarding the queen so why don't you kids go together?"

“That’s not necessary,” Little Kakashi objects, just as Naruto says, “Uh, sure.”

“Great!” says Kakashi-sensei, ignoring his counterpart’s sputtering. He salutes again. “Stay alert. Play nice. Send me a clone if you run into trouble.”

He vanishes with barely any movement in the sand.

"Is he always that annoying?" Little Kakashi asks.

Naruto considers lying through his teeth. "Uh -"

"Thought so," Little Kakashi says, and he stomps back towards the city without another word.

Sitting still and waiting for something to happen isn't Naruto's idea of a good time. Kakashi-sensei never seems to mind this part of missions; Little Kakashi is trying so hard to be good at it that it's pretty adorable. Everything he does has that childish charm to it, even the attitude. He would probably push Naruto off the bridge himself this time if he could read minds. Kakashi-sensei probably can. Maybe it's a skill that comes with being a jōnin-sensei.

It must be cool having the Fourth Hokage as a sensei - or the _future_ Fourth, Naruto supposes. He wonders what Minato's like as a sensei; Little Kakashi adores him, Naruto knows, remembering Chōza's words.

"Hey. Why don'tcha tell me about your sensei?"

Little Kakashi glances over, which is the biggest acknowledgment Naruto's received all morning. _Success_.

"Shinobi shouldn't gossip on missions," Little Kakashi replies, but the spark in his eyes tells a different story. He doesn't say anything further, though, remaining still and alert and the pinnacle of restraint, except the thing is he's a _kid_ and he shouldn't have to be.

"He must be a pretty good sensei, huh?" Naruto prompts. "Is he super strict or like - chill? I bet he's strict. I bet he teaches you _all_ day and sets you a load of _homework_."

"I don't mind," Little Kakashi says. Naruto could cheer. "It's better than the Academy. Minato-sensei doesn't mind it if I go off-topic. He can talk a lot, too, especially about ninjutsu, but he lets me take notes."

People have often told Naruto that he rambles a lot too. He grins, wracking his brain for more questions, eager to know more. He doesn't know what sort of things people _ask_ about their parents so he tries to imagine Minato as a sensei instead.

"Did he have to do a bunch of D-ranks with you? Can he do that super cool thunder step thing-y yet? How fast is he? I bet you can't get anything past him! Is he always so happy at home, too? Does he never get angry?"

"He's never shouted at me. It's nice, I guess." Wide-eyed at all the questions, Little Kakashi side-eyes Naruto as though unsure how much to reveal. "The villagers don't like me much."

Naruto's stomach drops. That's a familiar confession and he dreads where this may lead. He hadn't meant to pry into Kakashi-sensei's childhood, even if he is sitting here talking to his literal child-self. Animosity from the village is a feeling that Naruto knows all too well - but he wasn't expecting to hear his own feelings of anger and resignation echoing back at him from _Kakashi-sensei_ , of all people.

He tries to laugh it off. "You pull pranks or something?"

Little Kakashi's face twists, offended by the idea. " _No_. They just don't like my father."

"That's bullshit," Naruto says; not, in fact, able to laugh it off. He barely holds back a _what the fuck???_ No-one should be made to feel how he felt growing up with the village. No-one. "Who cares who your father is? What's that got to do with anything _you've_ done?"

Little Kakashi scoffs but, for once, it doesn't feel like his heart is completely in it. "They're right to hate him. He was a traitor and a coward. The Hatake name is _dirt_ because of him."

A traitor and a _what now_?

"There's no way that's true!" Naruto cries. That he's never heard of Kakashi-sensei's father, never heard anyone even _mention_ him, is beside the point. The point _is_ that anyone with a son as awesome and _loyal_ as Kakashi-sensei can only be twice as so! And the Hatake name being _dirt_ \- that's rubbish! "Everyone likes you!"

"How would you know? We met _two days_ ago."

"Well I know future you!"

Little Kakashi's disdain is genuine this time. "That is _not_ future me. He doesn't look strong at all. What's with the forehead-protector? Did he lose his eye or something? What sort of an idiot does that?"

He's not wrong; Kakashi-sensei is a bit of an idiot. But Naruto's not about to let anyone _say that_. Especially not some pint-sized kid who calls his own father a coward.

"Kakashi-sensei's _not_ an idiot. You're going to be him one day so -"

"I am _not_ ," Little Kakashi snaps, lightning sparking at his fingertips. (Kakashi-sensei's version is much more impressive). "Why would I become a jōnin-sensei? That's stupid. I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of genin."

Well that - doesn't change.

Naruto scratches his cheek, temper easing. He feels sorry for whoever's stuck in a team with this kid. Sure, _he's_ in Kakashi-sensei's team in the future, but the two Kakashis are as far apart as can be. Little Kakashi is far more frustrating. The sass is about all that connects them - that and the hair.

"What about your team, huh? D'you say that about them, too?"

Little Kakashi shoots him an _are you stupid_ look. Kakashi-sensei's version isn't as cute - or venomous.

"Of course. They're a liability. If I wasn't with them, I wouldn't be stuck doing D-ranks; I could actually be useful. I don't need to work with anyone."

The unexpected throwback to Sasuke is… not pleasant. No wonder Kakashi-sensei always looked a bit sour whenever Sasuke was around. How this kid becomes the advocate for _abandoning your friends makes you worse than trash_ is anyone's guess.

"That's stupid. You've got issues."

Little Kakashi actually seems taken aback. Maybe no-one's outright told him to chill before. "Obviously. All shinobi do. Anyone who can't handle it dies. But I can, I'm Minato-sensei's student. He _chose_ me to be his student. And _he's_ the best.”

"That's a lot to live up to," Naruto says carefully. It sounds like Minato's taken Little Kakashi under his wing similarly to how Iruka-sensei's taken Naruto under his. Little Kakashi's fierce loyalty and admiration makes much more sense though, and Naruto feels a lump stick in his throat.

He didn't think it was possible to feel even _more_ respect for Minato, but it doubles.

"I can do it," Little Kakashi says, blasé. "What's sensei like in your time?"

 _Dead_ , Naruto thinks, even _less_ pleased with this topic. He bites his lip in case the truth comes tumbling out.

Sāra stepping out onto the palace balcony saves Naruto from bullshitting an answer. _Finally_ , he thinks, gathering chakra under his feet for the jump. He ignores Little Kakashi's shout and leaps over, dropping down onto the balcony. The two stone guards at Sāra's back remain unmoved at his appearance, but he can feel their lifeless eyes studying him. He sticks his tongue out at them, remembering his manners only when Sāra laughs.

“It’s all right,” she says, and she's wearing that crazy hat again. “I prefer the company of people, too. Is there anything I can help you with, shinobi?”

“You must be pretty bored, cooped up here,” Naruto begins, although he might only be talking about himself. Little Kakashi's chakra flickers like a storm in the distance. “What do queens do all day?”

Sāra glances back to her guards and then steps closer to Naruto, leaning in. “Not a lot, really. Anrokuzan handles most of the day-to-day matters. Rōran’s so peaceful; there’s hardly anything to worry about.”

Naruto’s not so sure about that, but he doubts Sāra will believe him. He wonders if it's possible to get her away from Anrokuzan, at least for a bit, and he smiles at the first idea that pops into his head. “Then whadda you say to ramen? You said you hadn't had it, right? I’m sure we can find a stall _somewhere_ in this city! We could ditch these losers too.”

Sāra doesn’t immediately shoot down the idea, which Naruto takes as a win. She glances at her guards, hesitating. “Anrokuzan says I shouldn’t go anywhere without them…”

“But you’ll be with me, right? I’m a shinobi! Come on, we’ll be there and back in no time, no-one will even notice we’re gone. You _gotta_ try ramen.”

The stone guards say nothing - and neither does Sāra. Naruto rocks back on his heels, balancing himself with the chakra at his feet. Without all her anger, Sāra just seems kind of lonely. There must be more to her than her queenly duties; where’s the girl singing in that city underground?

“Oh, well all right,” Sāra decides. “Should I meet you down at -?”

 _And risk the chance of running into Anrokuzan? No way_ , Naruto thinks, scooping her up and leaping from the balcony. “This is faster!” he yells, and if her stone guards weren’t already suspicious, then they should be as Sāra _screams_ all the way down to the plaza. He doesn’t bother turning around to check, zipping from the open streets to the narrower alleys, intent on losing them. He sets Sāra down only once he’s sure they aren’t following, and even then, he sends off a pair of shadow clones (one disguised) to cause a diversion.

Sāra watches the clones disappear, her face almost as pale as Kakashi-sensei’s hair. “That was me!”

“Huh? That was a clone! Neat, right? I can make a bunch more if you want.”

“No,” is the sharp reply, and Naruto blinks, taken aback. “No, that’s - that’s an interesting ability, but I don’t think my people should be seeing a copy of me. I _am_ the queen after all.”

“Uh, sure,” Naruto says. He _supposes_ she’s right but he’s never heard anyone kicking up such a fuss about it before. Maybe it’s one of those civilian things. He rubs the back of his neck, not sure how to cheer her up. He knows how to cheer _himself_ up though: “Let’s go find some ramen!”

Nobody can sniff out a ramen stand like Naruto can. Not even Kakashi-sensei's dogs are as good and they're _dogs_.

“It’s… small,” Sāra says when they find it, and even with Naruto's nose it took some time to find.

Little Kakashi was right to comment on disappearing citizens; the few, very few people they saw around all kept their distance, regarding Naruto and Sāra with trepidation. Mothers ushered their children away. Pre-teens huddled closer together, scowling and angry. The ramen stand itself is hidden far from the palace, tucked so tightly between the winding towers that even the sand struggles to reach. The sole customer at the stand quickly vacates as Naruto and Sāra approach.

“Yeah, it’s perfect!” says Naruto, trying to stay positive. He fishes out his wallet. He probably has another for a couple of bowls; he doesn’t carry much money on missions anymore, not since his lost his wallet to a raccoon and Kiba almost killed himself laughing. He starts to count out the notes only to realise he’s carrying nothing but Fire currency - _and Ramen Ichiraku coupons_ , he remembers in a panic, digging around in his pack. Who knows, maybe Teuchi’s coupons are universal currency in the ramen world, and Naruto thrusts them towards the vendor with a triumphant shout.

The vendor takes them gingerly, glancing from Naruto’s sparkling eyes to Sāra. She sighs. “Three bowls then?” she asks, returning one ticket. Her scowl suggests she wants to return them all, but a second glance at Sāra seems to change her mind.

“Three?” Naruto echoes, only to double over as someone drives an elbow into his gut.

“Three's fine,” Little Kakashi confirms. He seats himself next to Naruto and glower-smiles at the vendor. It's a decent attempt. The vendor doesn't quite seem to know what to make of it, turning away with a shake of her head. Little Kakashi waits until her back is turned to hiss: “What are you _doing_?"

“Getting ramen?” Naruto wheezes, rubbing his sides. Who knew such a tiny elbow could hurt so much?

"You're _supposed_ to be guarding the queen."

"I am!" He gestures a thumb to Sāra, sitting on his other side. The loops of her hair bounce as she startles. "She's here - _FUCK_ -!"

"You look just like that other man," Sāra remarks, catching sight of Little Kakashi as Naruto face-plants the table in pain. "Is he your father?"

Little Kakashi nearly veers from his stool. The counter crackles where he catches himself, scorching black from the heat of his palm. His lightning-like chakra snaps. " _No_!”

It takes Naruto a second to realise she means Kakashi-sensei.

"It's his uncle!" he blurts, holding up his hands between them. Kakashi-sensei might not be stupid enough to zap a queen, but Little Kakashi has yet to proven himself. He clearly has _issues_ with his father. He seethes at Naruto’s back, and Naruto flounders for something to say. "The mask's a clan - _thing_."

 _She’s never gonna buy this_ , Naruto thinks, mouth twitching into a wonky smile.

Sāra buys it. She buys it! If she could sense chakra (normal chakra, non-Ryūwhatsit chakra) then she’d feel Little Kakashi brewing a storm along the counter. "I'm surprised your village allows family members to work together," she says, sounding unsure but accepting the lie. "But that must be nice."

 _Nice_ isn’t the word Naruto would use. He casts his mind to _his father_ and says, "Uh. Yeah. Sometimes there's exceptional circumstances, ya know?"

Kakashi-sensei would laugh. Little Kakashi does not. He doesn’t bolt though, as Naruto half expects him to do. So that must count for something. When the food arrives, he mutters a quick ‘thanks’ and prods at his _narutomaki_ with a scowl. He eats as fast as Kakashi-sensei - he’s just twice as grumpy about it. Sāra tries to engage him in conversation but he ignores her, seeming content to mutter under his breath for the rest of the meal.

Naruto can’t decide whether to kick or hug him, so he does neither.

At least the food makes up for the company.

Minato pops by, a yellow fox flickering through the street. He shakes his head at the sight of them sitting along the counter and Little Kakashi bristles. Naruto offers the remaining ramen coupon in the hope that he’ll stay, much to the vendor’s chagrin. Minato inspects it a little too closely before declining.

“The palace staff are concerned by your absence, Your Majesty,” he says, but there’s a hint of amusement beneath his detached formality, so he can’t be all that mad. ( _He’s never shouted at me,_ Little Kakashi had said). “I’ll let them know that you’re safe.”

“I’m safe anywhere in my city,” Sāra insists, and it’s almost a snub. She seems to realise this, adding in a more polite tone, “But thank you. I’ll return shortly.”

“No need to rush,” Minato assures. Now he’s _definitely_ smiling. “Enjoy your meal.”

True to Sāra’s word, they don’t stick around the ramen stall much longer after Minato vanishes. The vendor looks relieved to see them go. Sāra insists on walking back to the palace and Naruto doesn’t bother dissuading her. She’ll probably tear his ear off if he carries her again. On the plus side, the longer the walk, the longer Sāra’s out of Anrokuzan’s reach, which allows Naruto a greater chance to convince her that _attempted murder_ isn’t something to scoff about.

Sāra may feel safe in her city but the city doesn’t feel safe around her. Considering how many people were packed into the plaza, it’s baffling to see so few people about. They pass even less people on the way back to the palace. Little Kakashi remains vigilant. Naruto doesn’t think anybody’s stupid enough to attack them - except maybe those puppets - so Little Kakashi drawing a kunai as they turn a corner seems like overkill. Until Naruto notices the gang of pitchfork and shovel-wielding people blocking the street, anyway. There must be twenty or thirty people clustered together, their faces hidden beneath scarves and hoods. Sāra halts in her tracks, sensible enough not to approach them at least. Naruto jumps in front of her, drawing his chakra-blade, and more than one member of the gang _eeps!_ in fear. A few of them scramble away, clutching their pitchforks like shields, and at once there are bellows of anger and fright as the gang dashes off in different directions.

One of the women at the front of the crowd stands firm. She’s grasping a more practical weapon unlike most of the group - a large kitchen knife - and she approaches with it held before her. This seems to signal to the rest of the group to advance as well, some of them with more reluctance than others. Naruto can’t say he feels particularly threatened. He stays in front of Sāra, just in case, but there’s no need. A kunai _thumps!_ into the ground before the gang, sinking at least a few inches deep. A warning shot. Little Kakashi draws a second kunai and most of the gang fall over themselves to flee.

“Wait, wait,” the lead woman cries, holding out her hand instead of the knife. “We just want to talk. We want you to _listen_.”

“ _Really_ ,” Little Kakashi drawls, stalking forward to yank the kunai out of the ground.

Several more people scream. Naruto lowers his chakra-blade, feeling kind of sorry for them.

“Return our families to us. We know you’ve taken them,” the woman demands, and the few people that haven’t run away in terror voice their agreement. Shouts of “my husband” and “my children” rise up. Shovels and brooms clang together. One of the weapons looks suspiciously like a Konohan chakra-blade, suggesting these people have simply gathered whatever pointy things they could find. The lead woman stands her ground like a dog backed into a corner, but it’s not Little Kakashi she glares at.

“What are you talking about?” Sāra asks, believably confused. “What’s happened to your families?”

The crowd laugh; it's a mocking sound.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know,” another woman says, and she’s _definitely_ holding the lost chakra-blade.

Little Kakashi’s eyes bulge at the sight. “ _Hey_ , that’s -”

“A wicked-cool blade, right?” Naruto interrupts, shoving his own chakra-blade at Little Kakashi. He forces a laugh, trying and failing to be subtle about his _shut up_ gesture. “But it’s totally not worth mentioning when _everyone_ has their _own_ weapons, right?”

Little Kakashi accepts the blade - begrudgingly. “That’s not -”

Light and gunpowder explode overhead, drawing their attention upward. The fading trail of a firework fizzles across the sky. Another soon joins it, bursting blue and yellow, and then another, and another. They cast the city in flares of shadow. In the distance, the stained glass of the palace sparkle with each kaleidoscopic explosion. At once, there is a roaring cheer from the plaza, thousands of people gathered just out of sight.

“Maybe _you’re_ one of those puppets too,” says one of the women.

“Puppets?” Sāra cries. “I am not a puppet! I am the _queen_.”

“You really think so?" the lead woman sneers, gesturing through the streets with her knife. "Go and see for yourself.”

Sāra casts her gaze in the direction of the plaza, rightfully wary. These people aren't going to hurt her, no matter the weapons they carry.

"We should go look, don't you think?" Naruto says, startling everyone around him.

Sāra wavers but seems to recognise there isn't much point in arguing. The civilian crowd may not attack her, but even unarmed people will do crazy things when they feel like there's nothing else they can do. Naruto knows he'd do anything for his friends and family - and Sāra must feel the same, for she nods.

"This is stupid," Little Kakashi supplies, but he packs his weapons away.

The crowd at the plaza is enormous. Banners and flags wave in the full array of colours, and people of all ages stand shoulder-to-shoulder like sardines. There's barely even room for children to weave about in their games. Naruto and Sāra linger at the edge of the crowd, tucked away beneath one of the grand arches. The stone soldiers are but grey dots lining the bridges high above the crowd. Fireworks continue to burst; the atmosphere is jovial and loud, and Sāra's eyes twinkle in the light.

"I've never been this close before," she says. "Anrokuzan says it isn't safe, but… it's _wonderful_."

 _Wonderful_ isn't the word Naruto would use. Something isn’t right. All the people they’ve encountered so far have been frightened, solemn. And yet, like clockwork, this crowd amass here for celebration, people turning out in their thousands to cheer at an empty palace. A gathering of this magnitude doesn’t just suddenly _appear_ \- and yet appear it has like a mirage from the sand.

“Go on, go and see,” says one of the women.

Naruto throws out an arm before can Sāra approach. He pulls one of the blunt shuriken from his pouch and flicks it into the crowd. It strikes a man with a dull _thud_ and ricochets back; Sāra gasps but there’s no blood, no cry of pain. The man’s head cranks slowly around, revealing wooden skin and a carved, expressionless face. Chakra-threads glint above him. Sāra slaps her hands over her mouth, muffling a scream. Little Kakashi slices the threads with his (Naruto’s) chakra-blade and they all watch, unmoving, as the puppet-man crumples to the ground.

“What's this?” Sāra cries. “What did you do?”

“They’re fake,” Little Kakashi drawls, kicking the wooden head. “Can’t you tell?”

“Someone’s controlling them with chakra,” Naruto adds, in what he hopes is a more reasonable tone. “A shinobi.”

“The only shinobi in my city are _you_."

“That you know of,” Little Kakashi says, which is both true and not particularly appreciated by the fuming queen of Rōran.

“ _You’re_ doing this," she accuses, jabbing a finger in Naruto's direction. Her voice rises to almost a shout and their civilian tag-alongs quickly back away. "You’re - you’re tricking me! I saw what you did, earlier, with that - that _copy_ of me!”

 _Uh oh_ , Naruto thinks, trying to placate her. “That was just -”

“I don’t care what it was! You set this up, didn’t you? You gained my trust! Maybe it was one of _you_ that pushed me from the balcony! You said someone was trying to kill me - someone _I_ trust - but it was you, wasn’t it? You’re trying to turn me against my own people!”

“Whoa, no, wait -”

Sāra side-steps out of reach and shoves her way through the crowd, disappearing from sight. Naruto throws up his hands and charges after her, hardly slowing for Little Kakashi’s less-familiar call. _Hey dumbass!_ it rings out, pre-teen high. Naruto waves a hand over his head, scarcely looking back. He has to catch Sāra before she does something crazy - or something crazy happens to her.

“Just get my dad or something, I’ll follow her!”

Little Kakashi yells something else, but Naruto ignores it. The puppets clatter as he barges through. If Sāra has any sense, she _won't_ head for the palace, but of course she does. The crowd is almost impossible to navigate and yet she seems to pass through easily. He has to elbow and kick his way between the puppets; they close in on him with every step, their chakra-threads twitching. Whoever is pulling the strings must be working against him, trying to separate him from Sāra. Naruto will be damned before he lets that happen.

He crashes up the palace stairs and in through the door. The entrance hall is barren. Sāra's footsteps snap like the firecrackers outside; her red hair sweeps from view. Naruto bolts after her, half a room behind. She calls for Anrokuzan, her voice echoing like a cry.

No one answers. The palace is eerily quiet except for their chase - but with the Ryūmyaku under their feet, it _feels_ alive. The city's strange chakra writhes through the palace; not just below, as Naruto had assumed, but criss-crossing across the ceilings and windows like the threads that power the puppets. Whoever controls the Ryūmyaku must frequent the palace often to leave such a web. At this point, if Anrokuzan _isn't_ Mukade, Naruto will never ever _ever_ eat ramen again.

Anrokuzan is Mukade. He has to be. And _that_ means Sāra's leading them straight into the clutches of an international missing-nin with a vendetta that traverses space and time.

“Sāra, just listen for a sec!" he tries, almost colliding with the door she slams in his face. He shoves it open, unsurprised to find himself in the throne room once again. "Someone's kidnapping people! Your city's made of puppets! Don't you think it's super sketchy that this shit started after Anrokuzan got here?"

Sāra's having none of it. To be fair, she's not been particularly impressed with his explanations since day one, but if she's going to listen to him at any point, it needs to be now. "You don't know that! Anrokuzan has done nothing but support me since my mother died!"

 _And who killed her_ , Naruto can't help but think. "Yeah but -"

"He's not a _bad guy_ ,” she cries, whirling towards him. Purple chakra glints above them, the puppet-threads pulling taut. Naruto dives towards her as four stone soldiers jerk to life in the corners, their bulbous heads spinning. Sāra screams - but not at them. She throws up her hands and scrambles towards the nearest soldier, _away_ from Naruto, eyes wide and afraid.

"Stay away! Just stay away from me!"

Naruto stumbles to a halt. "I'm not - they're _dangerous_!"

"They've guarded me better than you ever could!” Sāra argues, hair like fire about her face. “I think you and your team have overstayed your welcome.”

She shakes her head, so close to the soldier now that it could reach out and grab her. They've never done so before but Naruto's heart leaps into his throat, his gut screaming that they will. _This is a trap!_ he wants to shout. He inches towards her, shoes squeaking against the polished palace floors. If he leaps for her, she’ll run; if he draws a weapon, she won’t trust him again. But he might not have a choice. The four stone soldiers begin to close in, their humongous bodies clanking in the silence. The one closest to Sāra twitches its head like a bug, like clockwork pieces ticking. It’s easily twice her height; it could crush her in seconds. Slowly, ever so slowly, Naruto reaches for his chakra-blade - if he can cut its threads before it strikes, then Sāra could escape - only for his fingers to grasp at air.

_Where’s - ?_

The momentary distraction costs him. At once, the four puppets close in, two behind Sāra and two behind Naruto, and each pair crashes together with a thunderous sound. Stone limbs collide and _merge_ , and it isn’t four puppets that begin their assault but two, each an amalgamation of the green-eyed monoliths but larger, bulkier, and towering over them like the spires of the city. Sāra’s face slackens with fright, colour draining. That trust she proclaimed vanishes in a throttled scream as a gigantic hand snatches her into the air. Naruto can almost feel her ribs bruising at the impact; he can certainly feel his as the other puppet seizes his chest. He yells, too slow to draw a kunai or form a hand-seal. The puppet swings him up, chakra-filled eyes flashing. He braces himself for a blade to the face or his face to the floor, but then like a _shoji_ door in a storm, part of the puppet’s torso cracks open to reveal the lightless enclosure within.

“Hell no!” Naruto bellows, but like a beast with a gigantuous maw, the puppet slams him inside.


	3. Chapter 3

"Anrokuzan's not a _bad guy_ ," Naruto mimics, wrestling with the cage. It won't budge, just as it hasn't budged no matter how hard he punches it. At least he can imagine it's Sāra’s stupid face and he throws his weight against it, venting. "You don't know what you're _talking_ about, Naruto. These creepy-eyed puppets are _totally_ safe. It's not like they're gonna _eat us_ or anything."

Huffing, he lays his forehead against the stone interior of the puppet. Around the bars of what can only be described as a portable cage, his hands are purple and bloody. The puppet hasn't responded to his taunts, no matter how hard he thrashes. Sāra does, though; there's a _thump_ as she kicks her own cage and then a prolonged hiss of pain.

He wishes he had a chakra-blade – or any of his kunai. Anrokuzan was smart enough to take away his weapons pouches, not that a handful of blunt shuriken would’ve done much good. Minato’s _thunder kunai_ , on the other hand…

Naruto hangs his head. The _one thing_ his father gave him – lost.

There's a third puppet-cage off to the right; he can just make it out if he squishes his face against the bars. Whoever's inside hasn't made a sound, but the intermittent pulse of chakra suggests they're alive. At least for now. To top it all off, these puppet-cages are _chakra-draining-puppet-cages_. Naruto's cage has been steadily munching on his chakra for the past few hours. Fortunately, he has plenty, but he's not sure about the guy in the next cage over.

He hopes it's Yamato - and he really hopes it's not.

There’s little else to see beyond the cages. If Naruto had to guess, he’d say they’re underground; great pipes gushing steam twist across the ceiling and plunge into the roof, and the lights that blink and sputter overhead are dull and artificial. There are no windows, no sunlight. The only breeze is the hiss of hot air from the cisterns and vents - and Sāra as she kicks her cage again.

“Can’t you get us out of this?” she demands, an angry, red blur in the corner of his eye. She's certainly changed her tune since waking up. Hopefully she's had enough of accusing him of Anrokuzan's deeds.

"If I could, don't you think I would've done it already?" Naruto grumbles. The moment he draws together chakra for a jutsu, the puppet steals it away. One measly shadow clone is all he can manage and that poofed out of existence within seconds of appearing. A rasengan is out of the question.

"So we're stuck here, then?"

"Until the others notices we're missing, yeah." Kakashi-sensei and Minato’s team noticing that they've vanished isn’t going to be the issue - finding them is. If they are underground as Naruto suspects, then the Ryūmyaku will obscure his chakra signature - provided the puppet doesn’t eat all of his chakra first. That must be why they haven’t located Yamato; Kakashi-sensei’s dogs can usually track anything. Naruto wiggles around until he can see the third puppet-cage again, and as it sucks up the chakra of the prisoner within, it glows in blue and green.

“Captain Yamato?” he tries - but there’s no answer. _Great_. He slumps in the cage, considering his options. There are few. His chakra reserve is large so there’s no telling how long the puppet will take to kill him; he could starve to death first - or dehydrate. Sakura warned him about that before they crossed the border to Suna and he cringes at the thought of shrivelling like a prune. No wonder traversing the Great Sands without a guide is considered by many a death sentence.

Time passes. It’s difficult to gauge how much. The room is sweltering. Naruto strips out of his jacket and uses it as a pillow, but still the sweat clings to him, wet fire on his skin. He’ll be sitting in a puddle of it soon. So much steam hisses from the pipes that it fills the room like a fog. He can’t help but cast his mind to the Nine-Tails’ prison - that dark and fire-lit place. The bars of its prison are shrine-red and the seal, a burnt orange, is Uzumaki-spun and embellished with gold. Minato’s chakra keeps the Nine-Tails at bay, and more familiar with that chakra now that he ever has been before, Naruto reaches to it for guidance, both within and beyond himself.

He closes his eyes to stone - and wakes up to water. The black stretches out in all directions, clear and deep like a sky made of glass. The surface ripples as he stands, pulsing around him like the beat of a heart. Water soaks his clothes; crystal-clear blood. Through the candle-lit darkness, the eyes of the Nine-Tails gleam.

Naruto approaches the cage, water sloshing around him. His footsteps are a storm in the silencing gloom. The little waves wash over the Nine-Tails’ fire-bright fur. Naruto isn’t afraid of the Beast - he’s not sure he’s ever been afraid - but he can’t deny its magnificence as it burns through the dark.

“I could kill him,” the Nine-Tails says, mouth snarling around its razor-sharp teeth. Its breath is steam and its eyes are fire. “I could end this.”

Naruto crosses his arms. His tenant is _all talk_. “I don’t need your help to stop Mukade.”

“Mukade?” The Nine-Tails spits the name, tails lashing. “I don’t care for that pitiful puppeteer. I mean that despicable Hokage! I would snap his neck between my teeth. He put me here! Him and his loathsome, Uzumaki wife. They’re the reason I’m imprisoned in a child; they’re the reason you’re trapped with _me_. I could end him now, end this before it even begins.”

Perhaps five, ten years ago, Naruto’s answer would’ve been different. Back then when all he knew was fear and abandonment, when the village despised him and a part of him despised his parents, maybe he would have agreed. But he’s not that lonely child anymore. His parents were strong, and brave, and made the only choice they could. How would history have viewed Minato if he sacrificed another child in place of his own?

Naruto can’t speak for history - but he can speak for himself. He tips back his chin, staring into the Nine-Tails’ ruby eyes. “You’ll have to go through me first.”

The Nine-Tails guffaws, teeth gnashing with it, until its laughter quietens into snickers. Even then its hot breath pushes back Naruto’s hair, making him sweat. “When that tiny prison sucks out the last of your chakra, what do you think will be left, fool?”

Naruto blinks. He cocks his head. “Uh, a dead body?”

“ _Me_ ,” the Nine-Tails roars, claws slamming down. Water sizzles into steam, scalding the cage and Naruto’s face. “My chakra! My power! And if this puppeteer thinks he can contain _my_ chakra -”

“That’s it!” Naruto cries, throwing up his arms. The black lake wobbles beneath him with glee. “You’re our ticket outta here! I just gotta wait till my chakra’s really low and then BAM! Jinchuriki takedown! I’m a genius!”

Astonishment rounds the Nine-Tails’ eyes into two, little suns. Then its eyes narrow, blade-like ears flattening against its skull. Naruto recognises the expression from the hares that burrow through Konoha’s parks and he cracks a smile.

“Who do you -?”

“Knew you were good for something!” Naruto says, and through his mother’s cage and his father’s seal, through the bars that keep the great demon at bay, he pats the Nine-Tails’ nose.

He closes his eyes to fire - and wakes up to stone. Fiery chakra stirs within him, magma threatening to spew. Droplets of flame bubble across his skin; not enough to transform him, but enough to feel the blisters and pins. At once, the puppet-cage draws another inanimate breath and inhales the chakra away. First it glows orange - and then blue. There’s a groan of recognition from the next puppet over, and then an even weaker sigh.

“Naruto?”

Naruto all but concusses himself as he slams against the cage. He reaches through, swiping at the sweltering air. “Captain Yamato!? Are you alive in there?”

There’s another sigh, familiar and long-suffering. Like a spectre in the shadows, Yamato’s unusually gaunt face appears almost out of sight. His eyes droop with fatigue and sweat plasters hair to his face. Most unnerving of all is the fact that his characteristic headgear is nowhere to be seen. Its absence shaves years from his face - and chakra-exhaustion adds them all back on.

“For now,” Yamato says. “I don’t suppose there’s much chance of a rescue?”

Naruto rubs the back of his neck. He wishes he hadn’t when his palm sticks to his nape. “Yeah, well -”

Yamato’s forehead _thunks_ against his cage. He sighs even more than Kakashi-sensei, as impossible as that sounds. “I should’ve known better, I know.”

 _Ouch_. Naruto hates that he can’t deny it. Kakashi-sensei’s right to blame him for the trouble Team 7 always find themselves in.

“Are you all right, though?” Yamato asks, eyes wide and relieved when Naruto nods. “Is anyone else with you?”

“Just Sāra.”

“Who?”

Naruto summarises - time-travel and all. He probably shouldn’t considering Sāra is _right there_ , but there’s nothing for it now. She’s in this mess almost as deep as they are; once Mukade reveals himself, it won’t be a matter of whether she believes. He’ll kill her to disrupt the timeline just like he’s been planning all along.

“I see,” Yamato says, slow and sceptical. Naruto doesn’t blame him; time-travel is pretty far-fetched even for disaster-prone Team 7. He’s probably kneading his temples, wishing he were anywhere else. “Right. Okay. The Fourth Hokage, you said?”

“Yep.”

“And you think Mukade is this Anrokuzan guy?”

“Probably.”

“And there’s _two_ Kakashis?”

Naruto grins, helpless not to. It’s hardly the time or the place - except it may be the only time and place - and Yamato sounds so _horrified_. “Was Kakashi-sensei really that much of a brat?”

“Hard to say, I only knew him as a teenager,” Yamato replies, dashing Naruto’s hopes of hearing all the gossip. “He was… difficult, of course, but who could blame him? His team were all dead by the time I met him.”

Including Minato, no doubt. Naruto’s laughter leaves a sour taste in his mouth. “That sucks.”

“Many things in his life have,” Yamato agrees. “But we should be focusing on escape. I can’t say I’ve managed much on my own, but maybe with two of us…”

 _Three of us_ , Naruto thinks, not that Sāra will be any help. It’s unlikely she’ll be able to break free simply by kicking the cage. The _Nine-Tails_ , on the other hand, will be plenty enough for a breakout, so Naruto shares his idea.

“And the Nine-Tails _agreed_ to this?”

“Well - no. It kinda wanna kills the Fourth.”

“Of course it does,” Yamato sighs. “Relying on a Tailed Beast is _not_ a good idea.”

Naruto knows he’s not the brightest bulb, but he’s not _that_ stupid. He never said the idea was a good one - just a _feasible_ one. If they don’t try something, the cages are going to suck away their chakra until they all look like _prunes_. “But it’ll work?”

“Maybe. But it only gets us out of these cells. We’ll both be chakra-exhausted.”

“I regenerate chakra pretty fast,” Naruto reasons. “I could make a couple of clones and carry you guys outta here. Sāra won’t like it, but -”

“I don’t care at this point,” she butts in, sounding less like a queen and more like the teenager she really is. “We need to find Anrokuzan and get some answers. How long do we have to wait for this - Beast?”

Not long. Kicking the chakra-sucking cage doesn’t help with breaking free, but it does seem to aggravate it into eating up chakra. Naruto uses this to his advantage. Only a few hours pass before the Nine-tails’ boiling chakra bubbles up from his skin. The fox’s power seeps through Minato’s seal and up like a fire through his chest. It burns and heals with each oozing inch, blistering Naruto’s skin and then scorching them away. It’s agony - but for freedom, it will be worth it. Naruto forces himself to remain calm, to remain in control. Around him, the cage blazes with the Nine-Tails’ chakra, bonfire-orange and bright.

Something trickles across his hand - something much faster than the creeping chakra. Naruto blinks away the red haze, distracted by the sensation, and stares at the little beetle scurrying across his hand. Its eyes are too small to see and yet Naruto can’t shake the feeling that it _winks_ at him.

“You’re one of the bug-guy’s bugs!” he cries, mouth full of fangs. “How’d you find us?”

The beetle twitches, first towards Yamato’s cage and then towards the lava-plume of chakra. Then through the cage bars, a handful more insects appear, each as jittery and small as the last. In the next cell over, Sāra screams.

“We’re breaking out of here,” Naruto says, shooing the bugs away. He watches his nails sharpen into claws; feels his canines scrap across his lips. The bubbling chakra consumes him, spilling out into a single, lashing tail. With a white-hot glow, the inside of the cage starts to swelter around him, overloaded with chakra, the stone blazing like coal. “Get somewhere safe!”

The beetles scatter - just in time. The soldier explodes, stone hurtling in a thousand directions in a fiery ball of chakra. Like the Nine-Tails’ roar, the sound detonates in Naruto’s ears; he’s deaf for the longest, briefest moments, and all he sees is fire. Shattered around him, the stone remains fizzle away in the splattering of demonic chakra. He lifts his head slowly, hands cupped over his ears. His eyes, fox-like and narrow, flick towards the other two soldiers as they whir to life. Sāra yelps as her cage takes one laborious step forward, raising its colossal arms. Naruto grins, snarling with it, and plunges his claws into the soldier's chest, tearing it open from inside.

He gouges open Yamato’s cage next, spraying mortar like blood. The light fades in its slitted eyes and it topples back, dangling from its chakra-thread like a noose. Yamato falls limp from the stone shell - and with fear overwhelming the Nine-Tails’ boiling anger, Naruto leaps for him, blue chakra relighting to wash the orange away.

“Captain Yamato!” he cries, shaking the prone shinobi. Yamato’s face is pasty and gaunt but he grumbles into consciousness, chakra-exhausted but as grouchy as usual. Naruto yanks him into a hug, the last of the Nine-Tails’ chakra seeping away.

“Oof! Wha -”

“You look like shit, I’m glad you’re not dead!”

“Uh, thanks.” Yamato pats his shoulder, almost as awkward as Kakashi-sensei. Team 7 really is a disaster. “I’m glad I’m not dead, too. Can you make that shadow clone?”

“Oh yeah!” A quick hand seal and a poof of smoke, and two shadow clones appear. One of them yelps as the Nine-Tails’ chakra bubbles up over his hand, but the other one punches it out of existence, fire and all. Naruto and the remaining clone blink at each other.

“Is that… bad?” Sāra asks, inching closer. Small cuts mar her face and bruises stain her knuckles. Guess she punched the cage too.

Naruto grins. If Kakashi-sensei can pretend and _Minato_ can pretend, then so can he. “Nah, it’ll be fine! One’s enough to carry Captain Yamato, right?”

“Right!” chimes the clone, flexing his arms. He slings a reluctant Yamato over his shoulder without breaking a sweat. He’ll be sweating soon, though, unless they can find their way above ground.

Good thing there’s beetles about. With any luck, Shibi and the others won’t be far behind.

One sweltering room leads into another – and another, each as stifling as the last. The bugs dart along the ceilings, almost invisible in the haze of steam. Naruto leads Sāra and his clone with more care, winding through the industrial maze around ginormous drums and over serpentine pipe-lines. Large conveyor belts snake between one room and the next, loaded with eerily familiar pieces of metal and stone. Each door they reach is just as heavily bolted as the last. Naruto and Sāra crank each one open together, their hands blistering from the hot, metal handles, but their determination driving them on. The bugs squeeze through the vents, popping out like bubbles on the other side.

One doorway leads them into a room much larger than the others, its high ceiling obscured by the steam. The pipe-lines twist upwards, glowing faintly purple from the Ryūmyaku within. Sāra gasps and points up to where many of the pipes converge; a huge, rounded container in the centre of the room, towering from floor to ceiling. Ryūmyaku spills from the top like a bubbling cauldron. Naruto inches closer to the edge of the platform, Sāra latched onto his arm. Behind him, his clone sets Yamato down, and as one, they all peer down over the balcony to the factory below.

There’s not much to hear: steam, metal, and the clanking of chains; the heaving of a hundred people and their pained, effortful cries. The cuffs around their ankles clink with every step. Their clothes are tattered, their eyes hungry. Giant gears crank above them, powering these underground machines.

Sāra covers her mouth, eyes wide. “Those are my _people_. Someone’s using them to – to –!”

“Looks like they’re building more of those soldiers,” Naruto says, pointing down to the assembly line. “There’s, like, a whole _army_ here.”

“We have to free them,” Sāra says, and if she tipped any further forward, she would fall onto the assembly line herself. “We have to do something!”

“Well _yeah_ but –”

“No, the best thing to do is to wait,” Yamato interrupts, sounding glum. “Think of how big this place is.” He scrubs a hand into his hair, pushing it back. His hair looks longer without the headgear, wild. Naruto and his clone share a fretful glance. “There must be hundreds of your citizens here. Moving them all won’t be easy, especially with it so heavily guarded.”

One of the stone soldiers appears through the haze, a blade glinting from its mechanical hand. Its head spins three-sixty degrees, green eyes like firelight keeping watch. They all duck down as its gaze sweeps across the ceiling.

“We can’t just leave them!” Sāra cries.

Naruto’s clone tries to placate her. “Look, why don’t we get some of them out? That’s better than none, right?”

Yamato shakes his head, expression pinched. “That’ll only arouse suspicion. If we only move some of these people, there’s no telling the rest will still be here when we return. We should wait for back-up; plan how we’ll do this. We can’t risk harming your people, Your Majesty.”

One of Shibi’s beetles flutters down to the balcony. Sāra glares at it so vehemently that she could be seconds away from squashing it – but then she sighs, jaw clenched, and ducks her head. Scarlet hair spills down over her shoulders. It’s a good thing she isn’t wearing that crazy hat anymore, otherwise it would have fallen all the way to the ground.

“Fine. But this can’t continue.”

“And it won’t,” Yamato assures. “We’re here to stop this.”

“We’ve got this, don’t worry,” Naruto adds, and with Ryūmyaku fire in her eyes, Sāra nods, finally believing them.

Half a dozen wagging tails greet Naruto as he pushes open the manhole cover. Barks of excitement rise up until someone shushes the pack; it’s Kakashi-sensei, crouched near their hazardous escape-route, with a fox-faced Minato just behind. Relief hits Naruto as hard as the first breath of fresh air. Bull snaps up Naruto’s jacket and tugs him out from underground, and soon they’re all free to breathe in the crisp, dawning sky. The bugs swarm up into the air to Shibi, perched on the wall like a fly.

“You all _reek_ ,” Pakkun grumbles, the only dog not to immediately bestow Yamato and the two Narutos with slobbery attention. He cocks his head to Kakashi-sensei, wrinkles heavy around his face. “Plant-boy’s about to fall over.”

Kakashi-sensei offers his shoulder for Yamato to collapse against. “Maa, you’re a sight for sore eyes. Have we stepped into an alternate reality? Is this it? Am I free from this chakra-exhaustion curse?”

Yamato ducks his head to hide a smile. It’s a pretty pathetic smile considering he looks more like a shrivelled-up prune than anything else, but then his smiles always are on the creepy side of pleased. “God, you’re the worst.”

Kakashi-sensei brightens. “Is there any need for that? You wound me. C’mon, Chōza-sensei can have a look at you.” He wraps an arm around Yamato’s waist, supporting his weight. Yamato’s about as fragile as a leaf right now, but he seems to find the strength (or spite) to stand in Kakashi-sensei’s presence.

“If everyone’s all right, let’s rendezvous back at camp,” Minato says, signalling up to Shibi. He slides the manhole cover back into place, the dogs gathered around him. Shiba starts gnawing through his weapons pouch. Minato doesn’t seem to mind, patting the dogs before offering a hand to Sāra. “Would you permit me to thunder step us, Your Majesty?”

Sāra nods. “I suppose I can’t return to the palace now. Take me wherever you wish.”

Minato inclines his head. A twirl of a blade and flash of yellow – and they’re gone.

Naruto’s clone sighs. “I wish I could do that.” He dispels himself in a cloud of smoke. Bisuke sneezes, panda-like eyes scrunching shut.

Kakashi-sensei’s laugh is loud and relieved. “Think of all the trouble we’d get into if you could. C’mon,” he says, ruffling Naruto’s hair to soften the blow. “Don’t wander off too far this time.”

Naruto nods, but with six dogs pulling at his trouser-legs, he couldn’t even if he wanted to.

“That’s really him, isn’t it?” Yamato asks, voice a whisper over his cup of tea. The steam warms colour back onto his face. The blanket draped over his shoulders probably helps, too, and Naruto wiggles under it as he flops down beside him.

The camp, now in the ruined city where Minato saved Naruto’s life that first day, is the busiest it’s ever been. Only Shibi is on patrol and yet the camp is high on alert. Little Kakashi darts in and out like a bolt of lightning, dogs nipping at his heels. He’s almost as elusive as Kakashi-sensei, who Naruto can sense brewing at the edge of their refuge. He’s _still_ avoiding Minato and his past-self. Naruto can’t be sure if they’re ever going to have a conversation. At this rate, Kakashi-sensei’s going to ignore his way through this timeline, but then Naruto supposes the same could be said for Minato and _him_.

“Have you talked to him yet?” Yamato presses. It’s not hard to figure out who he means. Naruto’s only been thinking about it non-stop for two days.

He shrugs. They’ve not talked about anything that could _matter_. He knows he should just take what he can get – but it’s hard. “Haven’t really had the chance.”

Somehow, the next slurp of tea sounds sympathetic. They sit quietly for a moment, watching Minato at the other end of the camp. He stands alone, the fox mask replaced by a pensive expression. About his hand he twirls a thunder kunai, deep in thought. Nothing in particular appears to have caught his attention and yet his gaze is fixed somewhere beyond the camp. There’s not much to see amongst the dark and the rubble. Minato is a beacon in comparison, a yellow shadow in the silhouette of Rōran above.

Maybe he’s thinking about home – or this future of which he’s caught a glimpse.

“Now seems like a good time,” Yamato says. He sets the tea aside for a small paper bag. Naruto recognises it as Kakashi-sensei’s breakfast from the previous morning. Yamato seems oblivious to this fact. “You don’t want to regret anything, do you?”

Naruto slumps his head into his hand. “I just – dunno what to say to him. I can’t exactly tell him I’m – you know.”

_His son._

“Well, I never met the Fourth Hokage in our time,” Yamato says through a mouthful of food. “But I hear he’s a genius. I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit if you think he hasn’t figured _something_ out.”

That’s even _worse_. If Minato knows they’re related, then why hasn’t he said anything? Unless that’s not what Yamato means. Parentage isn’t the only secret Naruto’s keeping tight-lipped about, after all. He swallows hard, dropping his gaze from Minato – the Fourth, the one who will put the Nine-Tails inside him. The less said about that, the better. He clenches his hands, glad to have the Nine-Tails’ chakra back under control. He doesn’t want Minato to know about that.

“Sensei says he’s as thick as bricks.”

Yamato laughs, choking on it. “Senpai held the Fourth Hokage in high regard, I promise you. He just has his way of showing it. But you shouldn’t worry about what Kakashi-senpai thinks. Talk to him yourself; this might be…”

He trails off, attention drawn upwards. Naruto lifts his head, immediately pulling together chakra to face the threat – only to notice Minato approaching across the camp. _Oh no_. Minato smiles in response to their stares, waving around the thunder kunai in an almost shy sort of way. He realises he’s still holding the blade in the same moment that Naruto remembers he mislaid one.

“Hi. How’re you –?”

“I lost your kunai,” Naruto blurts. He smacks a hand over his mouth, ears reddening. Yamato bites back another laugh.

“I know, I tried looking for you through it.” Eyes smiling, Minato holds out the thunder kunai he’s holding. “Here.”

Naruto wants to take it, he _really_ wants to, but – “I’ll probably lose it again.”

“Hang onto it anyway, it can’t hurt.” Minato sounds content but something falters in his smile. His eyes linger on the thunder kunai – thoughtful, sad. Yamato lays a hand on Naruto’s knee at the same moment Minato adds: “I’m guessing I never got the chance to give you a permanent seal?”

Yamato’s hand squeezes. It doesn’t explain the constriction of Naruto’s lungs or the sharp breath of air that wheezes from his throat.

Minato knows. _Minato knows_.

“Shall I give you a minute?” Yamato says – and it’s not Minato he’s asking. Naruto nods, eager and anxious and hopes it doesn’t show on his face. Yamato gathers up his breakfast (leaving the blanket) and offers Minato a brief, unreadable glance. “Shall I wrangle Kakashi-senpai for you, sir?”

Minato blinks, sadness vanishing. “Ka – No! No, it’s fine. God knows I can’t make him do anything he doesn’t want to.” He rubs the back of his neck, flustered. “But thank you. And really – the _sir_ is – unnecessary.”

He’s… awkward. And he only grows more awkward as he takes the vacated seat. Naruto’s never been shy about _anything_ so it’s strange to see his father bumble through a conversation. Especially given that his father is the Fourth Hokage, one of the most powerful shinobi to exist. The leader of a shinobi village can’t be shy – can they? Naruto can only assume that means he inherited his unruly nature from his mother – and the thought spreads warmth all through his chest.

“What gave it away?”

“A few things,” Minato admits, looking a touch embarrassed about it. Naruto wonders if he’s as smart as a Nara – or _smarter_ . Pervy-sensei said there hasn’t been a Seals Master up to par in the village since the Nine-Tails attack. “I already had my suspicions but – well – you told Kakashi to fetch your _dad_ so –”

Naruto smacks himself on the forehead, groaning. “I didn’t even _notice_.”

Minato laughs, unspeakably pleased. “He was a little unsure who you meant at first. I suppose he couldn’t help but wonder if you meant your sensei, which seemed to –”

“Bet he was thrilled,” Naruto laughs, picturing Little Kakashi’s fury.

“– irk him, yes. Kakashi means well but he finds relationships… difficult. His father’s passing has hurt him deeply. I think the idea that he could grow to connect to you in a similar way confused him, more than anything.”

That… sounds about right. Not many people bother to look past Kakashi-sensei’s weirdness to see what’s underneath. Now Naruto can’t help but wonder what sort of relationship Kakashi-sensei and Minato had.

“I guess he _is_ kinda like a dad,” Naruto reasons, thinking of all the parents he knows: Chōza-sensei… Shikamaru’s parents… Iruka-sensei… “But he’s also just – sensei, ya know?”

“If you’re anything like me, I know,” Minato says. _He_ was taught by Pervy-sensei, Naruto remembers. That must’ve been awesome. “The hair’s all me. You definitely take after my girlfriend, though. I bet you keep your team on their toes.”

Naruto grins. “Our first C-rank ended up being an A-rank.”

Minato laughs, startled by it. “You really _are_ like Kushina. What’s your team like?”

“The _best_. Sai’s a bit weird but Sakura’s super tough and she’s awesome. I don’t know Captain Yamato that good but I think he an’ Kakashi-sensei have known each other for a while. He’s kinda weird too.”

“All jōnin are. Sakura and Sai must be worried about you.”

Naruto scratches his whisker-marked cheek, thinking of Sakura’s temper and Sai’s difficult smiles. “Eh, they’re probably used to it by now.”

Minato laughs. A childlike feeling swells up in Naruto’s chest – pride, perhaps, or something else entirely. He grins, fox-like, and is rewarded with a smile.

It’s the best smile in the world.

As the low morning sun bakes the city above their camp, Naruto and Minato simply – talk. It’s nice. It’s weird. Naruto pays little attention to everything else; conversations around the camp, the yips of dogs, and the scurry of desert animals hiding from the heat. The team keep their distance. Naruto appreciates it. Talking to his father is something he’s always dreamed of. He soaks up every word, rocking back and forth with glee.

As happy as Naruto is to dazzle his father with tales of his favourite missions, it soon becomes clear that the conversation is painfully one-sided. He doesn’t address it at first, but the more Minato smiles, the more he can’t help but wonder. Minato _knows_ they’re from the future now and yet he hasn’t asked a single thing about the Hokage he’s due to become.

“Why aren’t you, like, asking about _you_?”

Minato blinks. He’s less… obvious about his surprise than Naruto – less dynamic. Perhaps that’s the genius in him. “Well,” he says, and he’s as _awkward_ as Naruto, at least. “I may be wrong but – I don’t think you have any answers for me, do you?”

 _Oh_.

Naurto can feel Rōran’s ruined sand in his mouth. “How’d you -?”

“The way you look at me.” Minato inclines his head, far too calm for someone discussing their death. At the edge of Naruto’s perception, Kakashi-sensei’s chakra flickers: he’s listening. “The way your sensei looks at me. It wasn’t too hard to figure out. Best you don’t tell me anything about it, though.”

Naruto’s already revealed far too much. “I don’t think you guys are gonna remember anything anyway, Kakashi-sensei doesn’t,” he reasons. “But if you do, I could –”

Minato is gentle. “We shouldn’t mess with time.”

“But –!”

“And maybe I’d rather not know.”

 _Why not?_ Naruto thinks – wants to shout – but he swallows it down. “Yeah, I guess.” It hurts him to say. He draws the blanket tighter around himself, feeling nauseous. Maybe the Nine-Tails is trying to follow through with its threat: he hopes it is. At least that’s something he knows how to deal with.

“For what it’s worth –”

“It's okay,” Naruto interrupts, shaking his head. He slaps on a smile, Iruka-sensei’s advice coming to mind. _Pretend_. If this is the only chance he’s ever going to get to talk to his dad, then he can’t spend it wallowing in misery.

“Oh,” Minato breathes, and the sound is sad. “Now you look like me.”

There’s a lot to unpack there but someone interrupts before Naruto can wrap his head around it. It’s Shibi, eyes indiscernible behind his black glasses. He body-flickers down as fast as a beetle, dropping into a crouch. The interruption is a relief and Naruto hates himself for thinking it.

“Minato, my bugs have sensed a surge in the Ryūmyaku.”

“He’s right,” Sāra adds (not that there’s any doubt). She makes her way across the camp, expression stern. It looks like she’s hacked away the bottom of her dress for ease of movement, and now her hair is looped up high on her head. Someone (probably Kakashi-sensei) has been mad enough to give her a kunai. “I can feel something draining it underground.”

Minato rises. “Then I think it’s safe to say Anrokuzan isn’t pleased by your absence.” A flick of his hand summons Chōza and Little Kakashi to his side. Yamato hangs back, still looking exhausted. Naruto throws the blanket aside just as Kakashi-sensei appears in the spot Minato has left.

Minato smiles at them all. “Let’s use that to our advantage.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments appreciated :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience with this everyone!

“I never tire of this view,” Sāra says, gazing out across her city. The desert wind whips in her hair, scattering sand over her clothes. She doesn’t seem to mind. From high up one of Rōran’s many spires, the sand seems like the only thing that could reach them.

Naruto’s not so sure about that. He peers down to the city below, to the empty streets and the jagged shadows. With the knowledge of Anrokuzan’s terrible influence, of the people enslaved and puppeteered, it’s hard to view the city with awe. When he had once thought of great ladders climbing up to the sun, now the towers look like needles tearing open the sky. The lives of the people are the string used to thread Anrokuzan’s plans.

This view won’t last. The Rōran Naruto knows is a ruin, recaptured by the sand. Sakura and Sai might still be there searching for them all. Gaara and the old lady are probably aware that the team is missing now. Hopefully they won’t be in too much trouble upon their return. Naruto rubs his cheek, predicting Sakura’s temper. She’s awfully violent when she’s worried - and much else of the time.

“What’s your village like?” Sāra asks.

“Green,” Naruto replies, laughing. It’s nothing like this. He doubts she can even imagine it. Even Suna feels homely in comparison to Rōran’s sentinel towers. He wonders how different the Konoha of this time is. “There’s trees _everywhere_. We’ve got this mountain and there’s this _huge_ lake on top. It’s where Iruka-sensei taught me to swim.”

Naruto hasn’t had many role models in his life, but thinking of Iruka-sensei leads his mind to Minato. He’s off in the city somewhere, beating up puppets. His Flying Thunder God technique is awesome. It’s more than enough to handle Anrokuzan. Naruto grins, thrilled that his dad’s so cool. Then he chokes on a mouthful of sand.

“Bleh!”

“You get used to it,” Sāra says with a smile. “I don’t think the desert’s for everyone. You have to be tough to live out here. My people have endured so much, haven’t they?”

She casts her eyes down into the shadows of the sun. With any luck, her people are down there somewhere, fleeing from Anrokuzan’s factory. Yamato, Shibi, and Chōza are all down there, too, utilising their skills to get the people to safety. Hopefully Yamato won’t need rescuing again. Naruto’s not around to bust his ass out of a cage, this time.

Neither is the Nine-Tails. Naruto didn’t mention the Nine-Tails to his father. He feels its chakra under his skin, the fox pacing back and forth in its cell. He doesn’t need a sharp look from Yamato to hold his tongue about _that_. It’s debatable whether Sāra knows what a jinchuriki is, but Minato definitely does. He’s already proven himself highly observant. Maybe he knows about the seal - about what he does to his son. Naruto hopes not. That’s a can of worms he never expected to open - and now that he’s _met_ Minato, he’s not sure he even wants to.

The time to ask has passed. Naruto has many things he wants to talk to Minato about. Their time at camp was brief, and it may be all they have. Anrokuzan will soon notice the evacuation of his prisoners and the fox-masked shinobi destroying puppets around the city. With any luck, Minato alone will draw his ire, allowing Naruto and the others to sneak back underground.

Not to the factory, this time, but to the source of the Ryūmyaku itself. _It’s deep underground_ , Sāra had explained, as Minato drew together the plan. It’s their best bet at powering Anrokuzan down. _It’s a sacred place. There’s an entrance but it’s hidden in the palace. I can get you there_.

The palace looms a few blocks away, easy to locate with its elaborate decorations and glass. The giant sun at its peak dazzles, and every time Naruto looks up, spots of light burst in his eyes.

“I’d worry less about your people, and more about yourself,” Little Kakashi drawls, eyes rolling up at the Queen. “You’re the one Anrokuzan wants.”

There’s a sigh from the window where Kakashi-sensei perches. It carries in the wind, as intrusive as the sand. Little Kakashi reacts to it like a cat staring down a dog. His hair is pointier than Kakashi-sensei’s, less tamed, and he all but growls at Kakashi-sensei. There’s something particularly Minato-esque about him, now that Naruto notices, and his laughter breaks the tension.

“What?” Little Kakashi snaps, rounding on him instead.

“Nothing, nothing,” Naruto says, keeping that thought to himself. He’s not a complete idiot. He grins at Little Kakashi’s incredulity. “You really like my dad, don’t you?”

Little Kakashi’s eyes narrow - and then blow wide as a great _boom_ shakes the air. An explosion rocks the city, throwing up a volcano of dust. It’s not so close that they feel the fire or glass, but the wind throws it over the towers. Little Kakashi and Sāra flatten themselves to the bridge. Naruto covers his face with his arm. Dirt and stone slice his skin. The sound shakes his ear drums and echoes in his head. The windows above them rattle and crack - and then still. The shock passes in seconds, but the adrenaline remains. Naruto launches to his feet, readying for battle, and in the half-moment between the explosion and the silence, Minato appears.

He’s covered in sand. Fire flicks at the ends of his hair as though something caught him by surprise. Minato snuffs it out, utterly composed behind his mask. Thunder kunai dangle around his waist.

“Your puppet-master, Mukade,” Minato begins, and he’s the only one not to startle as another _BOOM_ fills the air. He tilts his fox mask to Kakashi-sensei. “Did he ever transform into a giant centipede, by any chance?”

A giant _what now_.

“Can’t say he did,” Kakashi-sensei says, and he believes that crazy statement without question. He looks out towards the explosions with a new-found wariness. “When you say ‘giant’...?”

Minato doesn’t need to answer. A centipede-human-puppet- _thing_ appears with none of Minato’s grace some distance away, crawling with clacking legs up one of Rōran’s many towers. It’s nightmare material. Its head is more like that of an ant than a centipede, bulbous and protruding from a spindly neck. It seems to have _hair_ , which is all kinds of wrong, and its teeth clatter in a similar fashion to Anrokuzan’s soldiers. Far larger than any bug should be, it curls around the spire and twists its colossal head towards them. There’s nothing human about it, especially its eyes. It _shrieks_ , and from its mouth there might be words or there might only be a terrifying, inhuman rage. There might be both.

“ _ **SĀRA!!**_ ”

“That’s Mukade!?” Naruto yells, at the same time Sāra wails, “That’s Anrokuzan?!”

The Anrokuzan-puppet-bug-thing cranks his mouth open. Familiar purple light starts to gather between its jaws.

“Looks like it’s spotted us,” Kakashi-sensei says, as nonchalant as ever. He leaps down from the tower and sweeps Sāra off her feet. “That’s our cue, let’s go.”

Anrokuzan’s laser builds rapidly in the distance, burning violet light over the city. Naruto will only be imagining the destruction for a few seconds longer. They leap from the bridge, Minato splitting from the group. His flash of yellow chakra is a speck of sand in comparison to Anzokuzan’s overwhelming power, and that power blasts free with another deafening sound. It carves through the bridge and every tower before it, and then fizzles out to nothingness over the desert. The towers collapse, shattering in on themselves. Naruto presses himself up against another building, hiding in the chaos of the city tumbling down.

“We’re _dead_ if we get hit by that!”

Anrokuzan’s head cranks around, searching for them. He claws further up his perch, ripping through the tower walls. People are going to get hurt if he tears down the city. Yamato’s wood release might be a great shield in battle, but Naruto’s not sure it can stop entire _buildings_ from falling on his head.

“ **SĀRA** ,” Anrokuzan calls. “ **YOU CANNOT HIDE.** ”

“Nobody move,” Kakashi-sensei orders. He stills Little Kakashi with a sharp look. “ _Especially_ you.”

“But -!”

“Sensei’s faced down bigger things, believe me,” Kakashi-sensei says, and Naruto bites his lip, realising that includes the Nine-Tails. This Minato isn’t the Hokage yet, though, and the prospect of facing down a Tailed Beast is only real in his nightmares. Little Kakashi tries to argue, but Kakashi-sensei cuts him off: “You’ll just be in the way.”

Hurt breaks apart Little Kakashi scowl. He buries it as quickly as it appears, but Naruto knows what he saw. “Maybe _you_ will,” Little Kakashi snarls - but he stays put. It looks like it takes everything in him to do so. “Whatever happened between you and sensei isn’t going to happen to me.”

Kakashi-sensei smiles without smiling again. Maybe there’s more to his avoidance of Minato than knowledge of the Nine-Tails attack, Naruto realises. He glances between the two Kakashis, unsure what he’s seeing. He has a terrible suspicion that simply pushing Kakashi-sensei to talk with Minato won’t solve whatever hang-ups Kakashi-sensei has following his death.

There’s no time to dwell on that now. Another roar from Anrokuzan draws their attention back across the city. Chakra gathers in his mouth again, preparing to split open the sky. For a never-ending moment, Naruto fears they’ve been spotted again, but then Anrokuzan’s attack fires up towards the sun. The towers shake from the sheer _energy_ of the jutsu. There won’t be much left of Rōran at this rate. Given Rōran’s state in the future, maybe that’s the idea.

Anrokuzan is on the move before the buildings have settled. For a moment, he swings furiously towards Naruto, Sāra, and the Kakashis, and they all brace, preparing to be discovered. Anrokuzan has yet to demonstrate his full, bug-like potential, and Naruto hopes to hell he isn’t about to sprout wings and _fly_. Then Anrokuzan turns away, his head clanking like gears of a clock. Dozens of shuriken hail down upon him, clattering against the impenetrable plates of his body.

“ **SHINOBI** ,” he screams; he must have seen Minato. “ **DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME?** ”

Naruto’s team doesn’t stick around to find out. They drop back into the palace - a place Naruto is now more than familiar with - and beeline to the throne room. The palace is empty of staff but the distant clanking of metal suggests they’re not entirely alone. Naruto grimaces at the thought of being stuffed inside one of the puppets again. A quick glance to Sāra reveals nothing of her thoughts; her face is hard with determination, and unmoving. She’s a far cry from the girl Naruto rescued from the balcony just the day before.

Sounds of battle explode past the windows. Kakashi-sensei yanks Naruto down out of sight as the distant clanking of the palace guards erupts in the crash of stone. It sounds like Minato has his hands full. Light flashes through the mosaic windows, scattering over them in purple and gold.

“Mukade can’t _follow_ us in here, right?” Naruto stage-whispers. “Like, we’re totally safe?”

“Do _you_ feel safe with that out there?” Little Kakashi replies. He clutches his chakra-blade close to his body. It probably won’t do any good against Anrokuzan, but he’s already proven he’s unafraid of attacking the puppets with it.

“He’ll follow us if he can,” Sāra says, pointing the way to the throne room. “He knows of the passage underground.”

 _Of course he does_ , Naruto thinks. “I thought you said it was _sacred_ ,” he despairs. “Royal-family-need-to-know kind of sacred?”

Sāra’s expression pinches. More purple light fills the corridor as Anrokuzan rages outside. “I - my mother and I had complete trust in him.”

Well, that was a mistake. “Sure,” Naruto says, instead of saying _that_. “Sure sure sure sure.”

Kakashi-sensei doesn’t quite muffle his laughter.

The throne room is as excessive and empty as Naruto remembers it. The ceiling is high and unreachable, and sun motifs border every window. Light bathes the stone floor in gold. Naruto waves his hand through the dust in the sunbeams. It looks as though the desert sand is pouring in, burying the palace from the inside out. It feels lonely. He can’t imagine growing up here, so far removed from the city, its people, and the outside world.

“Back here,” Sāra says, leading them behind the throne. The walls are as elaborately decorated as the rest of the room, and Naruto’s eyes cross as he tries to make sense of the repeating patterns. There isn’t a door here as far as he can see, but Sāra crouches down in the shadow of the throne, her eyes fixed on the sun pattern on the wall. Some of the stone is worn with age. One of the suns has discoloured in the centre, and its two streaks of weathered stone look like tears.

“Looks kinda sad,” Naruto comments, and the wall behind them _blasts_ open.

Anrokuzan crashes into the room - _through_ the room. He’s far longer than the room is wide, and the first wall crumbles down upon him as he bulldozes. His body writhes amongst the shattered glass and stone, and then he twists through the rubble, flinging it across the room. Kakashi-sensei throws up an earth jutsu and the decimated stonework smashes against it. The mosaics glitter in a kaleidoscope of colours across the floor.

Little Kakashi dashes out from cover. Kakashi-sensei lunges to stop him but misses; cursing, he grapples Naruto’s collar instead, shoving him against one of the two remaining walls. It won’t be intact for much longer with Anrokuzan on a rampage, and they all duck as Anrokuzan’s elongated body whips around like a tail. It rips the throne from its podium. Gold and other jewels strew in every direction. Little Kakashi’s blade _clangs_ against Anrokuzan’s spindly leg and Anrokuzan laughs, gnashing his teeth like the Nine-Tails in its cage.

Naruto’s sure the Nine-Tails’ chakra would wreck Anrokuzan - but he doesn’t want to rely on it again. Drawing on its power was only possible the last time because he had no power of his own, and that’s _not_ the case now. He presses his hands together and two dozen clones appear around him. They consider Anrokuzan with varying degrees of confidence, and one turns to Naruto with wide, fearful eyes.

“The hell we gonna take down _that_?”

“Let’s overwhelm it!” shouts another clone, and they all draw kunai and charge. The shadow clones fling themselves at Anrokuzan, and Little Kakashi darts like lightning in between. He’s awfully talented for a kid, but he’s still only one kid. Naruto’s clones grapple every part of Anrokuzan’s terrible body that they can reach, trying to topple him, or stall him, or _anything_.

Kakashi-sensei’s grip tightens on Naruto’s jacket. He eye-smiles at Sāra. “That hidden passage would be great right now, Your Majesty.”

Sāra nods. She presses her palm against the crying sun and closes her eyes. A moment passes. Naruto’s clones poof out of existence behind them, their abandoned kunai scattering amongst the rubble. None have managed to penetrate Anrokuzan’s armour. Naruto summons ten more clones just as the wall before Sāra starts to glow. Purple light seeps from the crying sun and spreads across the wall, forming a square barely a few feet wide. Then the light disappears, and with it vanishes the wall, dissipating into nothing.

Anrokuzan roars. Naruto turns back to see Minato crash into Anrokuzan’s forehead, three-pronged kunai alight with chakra. A clone cheers and another yelps as Anrokuzan flails, his ant-like legs driving through the floor like spears. Another chunk of the ceiling disintegrates above them, and the floor begins to crack. Kakashi-sensei shoves Naruto and Sāra through the door in the wall.

“We’ll follow,” he says, and his hands flash through a set of seals.

Naruto assumes it’s the chidori, but then another mud wall rises up between them. He scrambles forward too late; the throne room disappears behind the earth. Naruto’s palms smack the muddy dog-face on the wall; he yells, and the tunnel submerges in darkness.

“Fuck!” Naruto cries. He could rasengan his way through. A hand on his shoulder stops him, and he whirls in place, eyes adjusting to the dark.

Sāra shakes her head. Behind her, a lantern bursts into light. Then another, and another, until a short corridor flickers into sight. It drops down into a stairwell that spirals far from view. Hanging in the centre of the coil is a chain, and Naruto gazes up to the ceiling and spies some sort of mechanism with a weight. The chain connects to a lever on the wall. He pushes it down, and something in the depths of the tower starts to clank. The chain pulls taught, lifting whatever has been resting underground.

“I can’t see the bottom,” Sāra says. “I don’t think we have time to wait up here.”

They break off into a run down the stairs. The sounds of battle fade as they descend. Slowly, the chain grinds upwards, until it is all Naruto can hear. More lanterns burst to life as they pass, and the stairs go on and on. Naruto knew the source of the Ryūmyaku was deep underground, but he didn’t realise how many _stairs_ that would entail. Every inch of this tower is the same; lanterns and stairs and the darkness repeating. He turns back, once, to gauge the distance, and above them, the flames that guided their way have snuffed out one by one. Now, the ceiling feels as far away as the floor, and the only thing that suggests any sort of direction is the clank of the chain ever upwards.

Kakashi-sensei and the others have yet to follow. Memories from Naruto’s clones pop into his mind. The last memory is of Anrokuzan lunging, lightning flashing, and then the tower above them blasts open as Anrokuzan thrashes into the stairs.

If he was too big for the throne room, then he's definitely too big for the stairwell. His eyes flash in the dark: they can't see him, but maybe he can see _them_. His mouth cranks open. Purple light gathers like a distant star.

It'll bring the whole tower down. Maybe the whole _palace_.

They have seconds. Anrokuzan's light reveals the bottom of the stairs and it's still some distance away. The lift is closer. Naruto snatches Sāra's hand and throws them both on top, flinging a kunai up towards the ceiling. It narrowly misses Anrokuzan's bulbous head and lands - _thunk!_ \- into the pulley-mechanism holding the chain. The pulley snaps; the chain rushes free. For a moment, the lift and its occupants are suspended in shock, and then Sāra screams.

They plummet down - all the way down. The distance is anybody's guess. Cold air whips past Naruto's face. Darkness flashes in his eyes. He barely has time to brace before the lift _crashes_ against the stairs, directionless in freefall, and throws them from the top. They tumble into a larger space, and Naruto feels stone, earth, and grass slamming into him just as Anrokuzan's purple fire detonates the stairs. Blazing hot energy scorches over their heads. They're still too close. Naruto feels the blast over his skin in the second before a hand shoves him down to the ground.

“Whoa, that was close!” Minato says.

Naruto scrambles to his feet. The bottom of the stairwell and the entrance to the larger cavern is scorched black. There isn’t any grass left to burn. All that remains of the lift sizzles into a piece of gooey scrap.

Dust and sediment trickles down from the roof of the cavern as Anrokuzan forces his way underground. Giant rocks stick out from the grass, some stacked atop one another, and all covered in a thick layer of plant life. There’s no sunlight down here, but there is light. Like magma flowing through the walls, the Ryūmyaku illuminates the cave. It must be enough for the plants. It pulses as it weaves through the rock, and Naruto can’t help but feel as though they’ve fallen into the chamber of a heart.

Yuck.

“Are you both all right? Good thing I gave you that kunai, huh?” Minato says. He’s lost his mask somewhere but not his smile. His very presence is reassuring, and Naruto grins in return.

“I totally thought we were gonners for a sec but -!”

The garden starts to quake as Anrokuzan claws his way into the cave. The tower, the palace, and even the very earth holding the city above them trembles. Naruto backs away, pulling Sāra with him. The source of the Ryūmyaku must be nearby and he scans the garden desperately. There must be an _off switch_. It doesn’t seem like anything else can stop Anrokuzan - not even the pillar of wood that crushes him into the ground. He shrieks, his armoured body cracking but _still_ withstanding every blow. The log spits out the two Kakashis and then unfurls like a giant flower to reveal Yamato.

Minato’s mouth opens - and then closes.

Yamato’s wood release tends to have that effect. Something about the First Hokage and kekkei genkai. Sakura mentioned it once. Naruto didn't pay attention in history class.

“How did you -?” Minato shakes his head. "Where are the others?”

"Don’t worry, they're coming," Yamato says, just as Anrokuzan is beset by bees.

Anrokuzan screeches. As Yamato's wood release pulls away, a gigantic person lands on Anrokuzan's head, squashing him into the ground. The bees scatter as Shibi body-flickers over, and then Chōza, larger than life, ducks in through the hole that Anrokuzan clawed into the wall.

“Your technique is an unusual one,” Shibi says to Yamato, as though he doesn’t have chakra-bugs crawling out of his skin. Yamato laughs, apparently taking that as a compliment.

Even Chōza’s multi-size technique isn't enough to keep Anrokuzan down. He looms up over them, his body damaged but holding together. He seems to grow larger, in fact, fuelled almost to immortality by an immense chakra. Taking him down is only half the challenge; _keeping_ him down is where the real fight begins. He _must_ have a weak spot somewhere. They just have to find it before he obliterates them all.

"Suggestions on taking him down?" Chōza asks, shrinking back to his normal size.

"Preferably before he brings the ceiling down," Minato says. He frowns as Anrokuzan stretches up to his full height, just barely beneath the roof of the cave. The palace must be in ruin on the surface. Sāra's face is white with horror.

"Did you think you could get away from me, Sāra?" Anrokuzan taunts. "I know every inch of this city and everywhere you go. You really are nothing more than a puppet, just like your mother."

"Don't talk about her!" Sāra shouts. "This is our city - not yours! I won't let you use my people any longer!"

"I know you Konohan shinobi have hidden them from me," Anrokuzan says. His eyes fixate on Sāra; his mouth opens wide.

Naruto doesn't leap up and smash a rasengan into his face despite _really_ wanting to, and he doesn't twitch when he notices Minato's team flashing hand signs while Anrokuzan is distracted. He almost does. Luckily, Sāra's fury is enough to hold Anrokuzan's attention, and Naruto tries not to sweat as he struggles to interpret the Konohan signs.

He _sucks_ at hand signals.

"It doesn't matter where you've put them," Anrokuzan continues, oblivious to the conversation. His bigger body has clearly just given him a bigger ego. "Once I kill you all, I will find them again. I will use them to create an army powerful enough to destroy any city that wrongs me!"

Yadda yadda. Naruto tunes him out. He has more important things to worry about - like the orders passing between his allies. Shibi and Chōza nod with the slightest of movements, preparing for _something_. Naruto tries not to panic. He only caught a few signals. _Guard. Go. Above?_ Or maybe _up._ It could have been _tall_. He risks a glance at Minato, who's closest, and Anrokuzan strikes.

They scatter, avoiding with ease. Anrokuzan slams into earth, tail lashing. Shibi and Minato duck beneath it, and Little Kakashi vaults over. Naruto yanks Sāra back behind a stone monument, covering her from the debris. He doesn't know what Minato's plan is, but getting Sāra to the power source and shutting off the Ryūmyaku is the priority. Four jōnin and a chūnin should be enough to keep Anrokuzan busy - right?

“The source,” Naruto says, searching frantically. “Is it here? Where is it?”

Sāra shakes her head, unsure. “There’s a seal. It’s somewhere in here - or near here. I know this is the only place you can get to it -”

“You don’t know _where_ it is?”

“Wherever the Ryūmyaku is strongest!” Sāra cries. She wrenches herself from Naruto’s grasp and plants her feet on the earth. Chakra and debris fly past her, and Shibi’s insects buzz, trying to obscure her from Anrokuzan’s view. She doesn’t scream at the sight of them anymore. “I can sense it, just give me a chance! I’ll need a minute.”

Sāra kneels down. She presses her hands to the ground. The Ryūmyaku’s light seems to silhouette her in fire.

“All right,” Naruto says. A minute he can do.

He summons more clones. They’re eager to fight this time and they throw themselves into the fray. Shibi’s insects flood the cave. Chōza’s arm balloons into a sledgehammer of an arm and smashes into Anrokuzan’s side. It’s not enough to topple him. Naruto’s clones vault over Chōza and drive kunai in-between the plates of Anrokuzan’s armour - and then each of those grinding grooves starts to glow, spilling that familiar, terrible light. It looks like Anrokuzan is charging one of his lasers but from _every_ inch of his body, and the clones are the only ones to swear.

“YOU WILL NOT STOP ME,” Anrokuzan screeches, and his body _explodes_. Chakra fires off in a dozen directions. It slices through the air and the earth, throwing the ground open wide. The garden splits open in long craters like the threads of the Ryūmyaku’s web. Energy from the Ryūmyaku flares up through the cracks, spilling free. Other bolts of chakra hit the ceiling and the cave lurches with more force than before. Rocks crumble down; dust and sand flood the garden. Yells rise up, orders shouted, and just as it seems the city of Rōran will bury them all, Yamato’s wood release bursts into action. Like roots from the trees that Rōran never sees, the wood jutsu twists through the quaking ceiling, holding it together. Chōza, now even larger than before, slams his shoulders into the top of the cave. Minato and Little Kakashi shelter under his gigantic arms, and Naruto has half a second to wish he could do the same before a wooden dome claps shut over his head.

The darkness lasts a moment, but it feels like a lifetime.

Then, the very Ryūmyaku they’re trying to reach bubbles up under his feet. Like a hot spring overflowing, it rushes up through the torn-open ground. Even Anrokuzan startles at the sight of it, his bug-like eyes constricting as the Ryūmyaku seeps into the garden. His ginormous size is a disadvantage now, and his too-many legs scramble to avoid the danger.

Naruto spins from Chōza, holding up the ceiling, to Yamato, rooted in place.

He whips around to Sāra. “ _Tell me_ you’ve found that seal.”

She grits her teeth, still on her knees. “Do _you_ want to look for it? There’s Ryūmyaku _everywhere_ \- I’m trying! There’s something behind us, through the wall. But it’s faint. There’s so much chakra _blocking_ it, I can’t quite make it out -”

That’s good enough for Naruto. He scoops Sāra up and leaps over the bubbling earth one stepping stone-like fissure at a time. The far wall of the cavern isn’t as far from the battle as Naruto would like, but there’s a bigger problem than Anrokuzan right now. The far wall is, in its entirety, a _wall_ , and Sāra slams her hands against it as though it, too, may become a door. Maybe it will. But from what Naruto can see, there isn’t a convenient sun pattern to give them a hint. There’s just rock, and weeds, and the glimmer of the Ryūmyaku shining through.

“GET DOWN.”

It’s Kakashi-sensei. Naruto hits the ground in a heartbeat and Anrokuzan’s jaws snap shut over his head. Anrokuzan’s lance-like legs drill into the cave wall. His body clatters as it lurches to a stop just inches from Naruto. Cracks and dents cover him. Burns mar his armour like streaks of blood. He doesn’t seem affected by their attacks. A thunder kunai is lodged between two plates on his chest, but Anrokuzan hardly notices as he chews up a mouthful of stone.

Naruto rolls out from under him, summoning another clone. Maybe a point-blank _rasengan_ will hurt.

“Hey!” he calls, and Anrokuzan snaps around. “Eat this!”

Naruto _shoves_ the rasengan into Anrokuzan’s chest. It throws him back a few feet but it’s hardly enough; Naruto’s chakra seems to fade the moment it contacts the plate of Anrokuzan’s armour, as though something is sucking it away. He’s vividly reminded of the chakra-eating prison soldiers and curses, aborting his rasengan too late. Anrokuzan strikes back, one sweep of his head knocking Naruto across the garden.

"Naruto!"

Multiple voices call out. He lands hard, eating grass. The Ryūmyaku bubbles just inches from his face. Sand trickles down from the ceiling as the battle continues; he hears Chōza curse and looks up, admiring the weaving woodwork holding up the cave with a growing sense of dread.

Chōza's face is red with effort. Yamato's is eerily white.

A scream whips Naruto back around. "Sāra!"

She vanishes before he has the chance to save her - but not within Anrokuzan's jaws. Anrokuzan crashes into the cave wall, stone striking rock and - metal? Something clangs against his tremendous weight, something large and man-made, and hidden beneath the plant-life investing the cave. He doesn't pay it any mind, swinging around in search of Sāra as Minato's thunder step whisks her away.

But Naruto knows what he heard.

 _There's a door_.

“Dad, over here!”

Minato and Sāra are at his side in an instant. Anrokuzan opens his mouth to fire off another devastating blast, but a chidori to the face from Kakashi-sensei has him reconsider. There’s a shout that might be awe from Little Kakashi, and then shouts of fear as some of the cave collapses through Yamato’s wood release.

“Minato!” Chōza calls, and his voice is booming. “We’re running out of time!”

“The seal?” Minato asks.

“Through there,” Naruto says, pointing to where he heard the sound. “Sāra can do her magic-touch thing on the door and then we just gotta get through the Ryūmyaku.”

“I don’t know if we’ll have to go through it,” Sāra clarifies, expression pinched. “I think… I think it’s _surrounding_ the seal. Like a river. We might be able to go over it.”

“How much is there?” Minato asks. Another lightning jutsu bursts behind him. The ground quakes as Little Kakashi raises an earth jutsu, and the Ryūmyaku bubbles up like boiling rock. The Kakashis and Shibi dance around it, pelting Anrokuzan with everything they have.

“The most I’ve ever felt,” Sāra says. “I can feel it far beneath us.”

“Enough to dunk our troublesome friend, you think?” Minato asks, flashing a smile. An idea sparkles in his eyes. “I’d like to see him try and absorb _that_ much chakra. Chōza! Lay off on the ceiling!”

Chōza doesn’t question the order, but there’s a cry of “ _What?_ ” from Yamato. Naruto and Sāra echo it, but by then it’s too late. Chōza shrinks back to his usual size, tipping forward onto his knees. The wood jutsu strains under the added weight, and Yamato starts to sputter.

“Whoa, whoa, hang on -!”

Kakashi-sensei appears in a flicker of chakra. “Maa, sensei, he’s not going to be able to hold that for long.”

“That’s exactly what we want,” Minato says. He pulls two thunder kunai from his waist and throws one towards the door. He holds the other out to Kakashi-sensei. “Nothing’s going to drive Anrokuzan next door like a cave-in, hm? It’s going to be tight. I’ll thunder step Her Majesty over if you can fetch your friend?”

That _can’t_ mean what Naruto thinks it means. He almost shouts in excitement, remembering the thunder kunai on Kakashi-sensei’s mantle. He thought it was decorative - and Kakashi-sensei certainly treated it like it was - but the prospect of Kakashi-sensei knowing the _Fourth Hokage’s legendary jutsu_ is almost too much to bear.

And then he looks to Kakashi-sensei - and realises his mistake.

“Sorry sensei,” and it’s Kakashi-sensei apologising, not Naruto. Not much of his face is visible but his expression is plain to see. He smiles sadly, tilting his head. “I’m not good at everything.”

Minato barely misses a beat. He lowers the kunai. “That’s a relief,” he says, and Kakashi-sensei’s head jerks back up, startled by hurt. “You see, I have this student who seems to think he’s indestructible, and I’m terrified he’s going to throw his life away trying to please me. I’m glad he grows up to recognise his limits.”

Kakashi-sensei’s expression softens. Unfortunately, this is _hardly_ the time for a heart-to-heart, and a tremendous roar from Anrokuzan draws his attention away from Minato. Little Kakashi is knelt over the grass, spitting blood into the purple veins of Ryūmyaku. Another stream of sand breaks through the ceiling, separating him from the fight. Branches of Yamato’s wood release snap and crash down onto the garden.

“Senpai! Any time please -!”

The glance that Minato and Kakashi-sensei share is a mirror image.

“I’ll rescue your kid if you rescue mine?” Kakashi-sensei asks.

Minato laughs. Pride shines on his face. “He’s not that much younger than you, is he?”

Kakashi-sensei shrugs cheerfully. It feels… genuine. “He’s still my cute little kohai,” he sing-songs, sharingan flashing through his eye lashes. Whether Minato notices _that_ is another matter entirely, but when Kakashi looks away this time, it doesn’t seem like it hurts. He smiles. “Naruto - get the door.”

Naruto grins back. “You got it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! All comments appreciated :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the second half of chapter 4. Thank you so much for your patience!! Things got a bit hectic in the latter half of 2020. What a year.

Sāra was right. The sealing chamber glows with the eerie purple of the Ryūmyaku. There is no greenery here, and no natural life. The grass and moss from the underground garden is instead an open chasm, a huge well spanning the length of the room. It is a vast, round chamber, and a solitary bridge spans the circumference. Beneath it, Ryūmyaku swells like a sea. The drop is enormous, and though Naruto isn’t afraid of heights, his stomach churns at the sight. The Ryūmyaku feels more alive here than anywhere else in the city; it is the rushing blood of a great creature, and this chamber is its heart. The violet chakra that powers the city is at its most intense here, and it bathes the room in fire-light, flickering across every wall.

Halfway across the bridge, there is a podium. It sits at the centre of the room - at the centre of the city, and maybe even the world. Sāra’s eyes widen at the sight, and in her gaze, the Ryūmyaku shines.

“Come on!”

Naruto grabs her hand. They sprint across the bridge and it feels huge as they run, the podium looming ever from their reach. They only have a moment before the others follow - and the moment is over too soon. Anrokuzan bulldozes in through the door, scattering shinobi and the sacred stone. The ceiling here, too, quakes as he destroys everything in his path, and sand-dust shakes free from a century-long sleep. Naruto doesn’t dare look up. Anrokuzan has already brought down the palace and half the city, and he’ll bring this chamber down, too. His pursuit for power - his _obsession_ with it - demands nothing less. He’s controlled Rōran and its people through fear for too long, and Naruto clasps Sāra’s hand tighter, knowing that it has to _stop_.

“It’s just there!” Sāra cries, pointing to the podium. The palace sun-motifs decorate the seal here, too, and their sun-beams glow with the same purple light as the room. This place has never seen the sun. The Ryūmyaku is but an imitation of it, and the chakra drifts up from far beneath the bridge like steam, like sunlight, like liquid sand.

One day, Rōran will be buried. Naruto has seen that day.

He thinks it might be today.

He risks a glance over his shoulder. Chōza and Yamato are just a few paces behind, and the rest of the team are at the foot of the bridge, where Anrokuzan looms. The Ryūmyaku illuminates him from below, stretching his serpentine shadow up along the wall. The ceiling is much higher in this room than the last, and Anrokuzan’s bug-like eyes swivel to the centre of the ceiling, where the stone dome reaches its peak. Web-like veins of chakra decorate the dome like stars.

“Come now Minister, can you afford to look away?” Minato taunts. He steps back onto the bridge, eyes never leaving Anrokuzan. Shibi mirrors him, silent but no less goading. Their weapons and jutsu have proved ineffective against Anrokuzan’s armour, but even Anrokuzan had cowered from the surge of chakra flooding the garden. The pit of chakra below could swallow them all.

Minato is counting on it. He flashes a familiar grin, edging back across the bridge. It’s a dangerous place for them all to be. He twirls a thunder kunai in his hand, and Naruto’s gaze snaps to the kunai lodged in Anrokuzan’s armour. That same armour has been burned by chidori and dented by rasengan, and _surely_ it only needs one last push to drive Anrokuzan into the sea of chakra below?

Anrokuzan must think so. He lunges at Minato with a desperate fervour. His red eyes are violet now, and his claws _sink_ into the stone bridge. Minato and Shibi scatter left and right in blurs of yellow and black. Kakashi-sensei is slower, leaping back to Chōza and Yamato. Little Kakashi dangles from his shoulder, half-conscious and blissfully unaware of Anrokuzan tearing the bridge apart.

Naruto half-wishes he was like that, right now.

The bridge shatters almost entirely at once. Naruto has no idea if that was part of Minato’s plan, but he doesn’t have time to consider it as the ground drops from beneath him. His stomach, already sunk to his knees, plummets to his toes. His chest slams into the edge of the bridge but he catches himself, and pain ripples through his shoulders and jaw. Sāra screams. She hits the rubble _hard_ , and the fall is all that saves her from Anrokuzan’s behemoth claws as he _throws_ himself across the chasm. For a second, Naruto thinks he’s flung himself into the Ryūmyaku, but then Anrokuzan crashes into the central tower just ahead of them. It’s nearly too small to support him. It trembles under his weight just as the spiralling towers of Rōran had trembled into the sand.

What little is left of the bridge continues to crumble. Naruto feels it shake beneath him. Yelling, he heaves himself over the edge and onto his knees, and Yamato lands beside him, his face gaunt. He looks like he might pass out any second, but he’s Team 7 - and that means he’s stubborn. Wood whips out from his hand and scoops Chōza from freefall, and then with a shout of effort, he _throws_ Chōza across the chamber, right into Anrokuzan’s face.

It’s not enough to knock Anrokuzan back, but Chōza damn-well tries.

“Nice shot,” Kakashi-sensei says, appearing at Yamato’s other side. His eyes are half-moons of happiness and it finally feels genuine. “But maybe you should sit this one out. What if my little kohai fell to his doom?”

“What if I _pushed you to yours,_ ” Yamato grumbles.

Kakashi-sensei laughs. He eases Little Kakashi from his shoulder. “Watch him, would you?”

“I can’t even keep _you_ out of trouble,” Yamato says, but he accepts the task and bundles Little Kakashi into his lap. A strange expression passes across his face, barely there amidst the exhaustion, and then he sighs. “You really don’t remember this?”

“Not a thing,” Kakashi-sensei says cheerfully. “Probably brained myself on all this rubble.”

“Yeah, speaking of _rubble_ -” Naruto interrupts, all but shouting. Anrokuzan’s roaring is nearly deafening now, and with the steady hum of insects and the _ping!_ of Minato’s kunai, it’s hard to even think. They’ve succeeded in driving Anrokuzan onto the other side of the bridge, but it’s clear that they’re tiring. Naruto’s tired too - bone-dead exhausted, even, and he really will be if they don’t cut the chit-chat and _move_.

“Maa, so impatient,” Kakashi-sensei says, but he’s back on his feet in an instant, both of his eyes open and alert. The sharingan spins blood-red in his left. But then he closes it as quickly as he’d opened it, smacking a hand over his face. He grimaces.

“The Ryūmyaku?” Yamato guesses.

Kakashi-sensei nods. “Too much chakra in here. I can give it a go, but not for long. Where’s the queen?”

Naruto points across the bridge. Sāra is motionless where she fell. Kunai and stone lay around her. Chōza is a few yards away, struggling to stand. He’s his usual size, now, and his clan marks are splashed with blood. The effort of holding up the ceiling must have consumed almost all of his chakra.

Yamato isn’t much better, and Little Kakashi is down for the count. Naruto watches Minato and Shibi battle across the bridge and wonders how long they can last.

Anrokuzan hardly seems to be tiring. He fires off chakra-blast after chakra-blast, fuelled by the Ryūmyaku and its limitless supply. Maybe he’s stronger in here, closer to the source, or maybe they’re all just weary from this never-ending fight. Naruto rushes over to Sāra, knowing that she’s the only one who can bring this to an end.

“Oi Sāra, c’mon, wake up. You’ve gotta turn off the chakra-whatsit!"

She stirs. “...The chakra? Where…?”

Naruto ducks to avoid a chakra-bolt. There’s a curse from Kakashi-sensei before he body-flickers past to rejoin the fray.

“Big-ass centipede Anrokuzan trying to kill us, remember?” Naruto says. He yanks Sāra to her feet and she wobbles, clutching her head. Maybe she is hurt, but he doesn’t stop to check. “Podium - seal - let’s go!”

He shoves her into a run. She all but collapses against the sealing podium, and it’s less of a podium, Naruto sees now, and more of a _mound_. Like the chamber, it’s a domed shape, and it raises a few feet from the floor. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about it except for its lavender glow.

“I can shut off the source from here,” Sāra says, finding her determination again. She holds her skirts out of the way and kneels, and Naruto is reminded of the first time he saw her, head bowed before the throne. Anrokuzan had loomed over her, then, his shadow stretched out towards her and framed in gold.

Sāra lifts her head. Anrokuzan’s shadow is so much bigger now, and it casts doubt over her mind. “Do you think it will be enough?"

"You said this would seal it!"

"It will! But what if - what if I don't know how to be queen? They were right, I am just a puppet. What if I can't manage without it? What if I come back? Anrokuzan's from your time, isn't he? The future? What if he gets his hands on this power again?"

"Then we'll just beat his ass again!" Naruto exclaims, wanting to shake her. "You can't worry about the future - who knows what'll happen!"

"You do," she cries. "You've been here before!"

She's right about _one_ thing, Naruto realises. He hadn't stopped to consider it, but he _has_ been in this chamber before. This is where his team chased Mukade to in the future. This is where they found the Fourth's kunai. Naruto can picture it now, sticking out of the seal. This dome shaped podium _is_ that seal. This is where they'll return home. This is where they'll set things right.

“It’ll be enough. I promise. You have to believe that!”

Sāra nods. She lays her hands on the dome, and around her, the Ryūmyaku seems to ripple in recognition. It casts her in iridescent light. At once, her eyes are pink and blue and purple and red, and then the Ryūmyaku leaves her, and she seems overcome by a great relief.

“ **NOOOO!** ”

Anrokuzan's final attack is a second too late. His infinite power dries up as quickly as the chakra-lake below him, and he thrashes with all he has left: his body, a stone shell now and nothing more. Minato strikes first, the fastest. His chakra swirls in a manner all too familiar to Naruto, and he plunges a white-blue rasengan into Anrokuzan's chest. The armour, no longer able to steal away chakra, shatters, and Naruto glimpses Anrokuzan's true body hidden away in the gigantic puppet just before Kakashi-sensei follows through. Lightning and birdsong explode. Anrokuzan tries to whip up his tail to defend himself, but Shibi and Chōza have him pinned. The chidori's light is blinding but Kakashi-sensei tears through Anrokuzan's spindly defence and plunges it into his chest.

Anrokuzan's body collapses into itself like the death-curl of a spider. He tips forward with unsettling jerking motions, and his teeth clang around a scream. He must be dead, or close to it, and Naruto knows only one last push is needed.

He summons a shadow clone. They grin at each other, and Naruto thinks he could be forgiven for mistaking his father for one. Chakra swirls in their hands.

"RASENGAN!"

It's enough. It’s finally enough. Anrokuzan plummets from the bridge, a half-destroyed scream of rage breaking through the remnants of his face. His armour disintegrates as he falls, shattering him as he has shattered Rōran. In his final moment, he is neither machine nor man, neither robot nor human, and he is small once again, hollowed like the man they chased across Suna just days ago. He does not float in the Ryūmyaku, although like a sea it is. It swallows him all at once, swelling up around him like maws clamping on prey.

Naruto can only imagine what a pool of pure chakra feels like - and he only has an instant to imagine it. At once, Anrokuzan disappears and _explodes_. Ryūmyaku crashes up over the bridge. Smoke fills the chamber, thick and white like foam from a wave. Naruto thrusts chakra to his feet and anchors himself against the shockwave. The air is hot with it, crackling. Energy spikes from the Ryūmyaku flare up in purple bolts of light.

Unintelligible sound rings in Naruto’s ears. It could be Anrokuzan’s final scream or the sealing chamber finally caving in around them, and he hopes it’s neither. He swears but doesn’t hear himself, so he swears louder, and he thinks he hears laughter in response. It could just be the Nine-Tails - or it could be himself, laughing at this _insanity_ of a mission and the thought of giving this report to old lady Tsunade back home.

The smoke shifts direction. It whips past him with purpose, fast and sharp. At once, he can see the podium again, and Sāra upon it, closing the single, violet eye of the Ryūmyaku; and he can breathe easier again, and laugh, as Minato’s chakra guides the smoke away. The rest of the team appear scattered and weary but alive, and Ryūmyaku continues to crackle in the air between them, like an exploding tag threatening to blow.

Then Sāra brings her hands together, and it’s gone.

The sea of chakra settles and returns to the earth. The chamber fades to near-darkness, and the sunlight trickling in through the ruins and the ceiling becomes a spotlight. Everything is gold again; even the shadow of the city above, outlined with sand.

“Well, that was exciting,” Minato says; and _god_ , Kakashi-sensei was right, his dad _is_ lame. “Is everyone all right?”

They gather on the central platform, limping and bloodied. Victorious. Naruto would never have guessed that sickly, spindly Mukade would give them so much trouble. Even Shibi wobbles a bit, and nothing seems to faze him. Chōza claps him on the back and it nearly knocks him into the pit.

Sāra watches them all with a smile. Sealing the Ryūmyaku seems to have taken all of her strength, and yet she is the only one among them who doesn’t look weary. The fight seems to have fuelled her. Her expression is set in a determination that she never had in the palace.

“I think we should lock this power for good. I don't want anyone else to access it. What happened here with Anrokuzan can never happen again. My people and I are already in your debt, but could I ask that of you? Can you do that?"

“Your city will lose its only power source,” Minato reminds her, but it sounds like he approves.

She nods. “I know.” Like the secret door in the palace, there is more to Sāra than Naruto ever expected: bravery, kindness, and above all, a fitting queen. It’s a far cry from the young woman who accused Shibi of shoving her from a balcony. And to think, it only took her city crumbling to sand around her.

Could’ve been worse, Naruto supposes. They could all be dead.

“So. Fuinjutsu, right?” he says. He scratches his head, wishing he paid more attention in class, and wishing he was a fuinjutsu expert. Like his dad - the Fourth Hokage - who’s seal they found while chasing Mukade - who’s seal isn’t here now, but was there in the future. Naruto pulls the thunder kunai from his belt. “Would this work?”

There is laughter behind him - and then Minato approaches. “Not on its own,” he says, and he gestures for the blade. “But I know a thing or two. Might take a lot of chakra though, and I’m wiped. You want to help?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You’re quite a powerhouse, aren’t you?”

The _Nine-Tails_ is a powerhouse. Naruto’s just someone who absolutely, definitely, did _not_ mention anything about the Tailed Beast inside of him, to his dad, the Fourth Hokage, who put it inside of him, not even when he kind of wanted to, because that was a _bad idea_. It’s not clear if that’s what Minato means, but from what little Naruto knows of Minato now...

" _Yeah_ , well, you know," Naruto says, trying to deflect but finding the words slip out before he can stop himself: "Just like mum."

It’s such a stupid thing to say. Minato's smile slips. Panic seizes Naruto's chest. It’s the type of panic he feels whenever Iruka-sensei is sad and it gores him like a kunai to the heart.

"WELL, YOU KNOW," he stage-bellows, trying for casual and achieving frantic. At least it drowns out the Nine-Tails' laughter. "WE SHOULD TOTALLY BE GETTING BACK -"

"Naruto -"

"Sensei." It's Kakashi-sensei, frighteningly calm. That's all he needs to say to halt Minato in his tracks.

_Abort, abort, abort,_ Naruto's mind wails. The alarm bells are ringing louder than they have ever done - even than the time he painted the Hokage Rock. Iruka-sensei’s glower nearly levelled the mountain and Naruto along with it.

Minato's eyes drift between them and then to Yamato, Sāra, and his team. His expression is tired and serious, but then he shakes his head and that weariness vanishes as fast as his thunder step. Little seems to faze him. He really is an exemplar of a shinobi; a beacon for all to aspire to. He’s not even the Hokage yet but he has the characteristics of one: brave, calm, and compassionate. He’s still Naruto’s idol. The Nine-Tails doesn’t change that. Naruto won’t let it.

“I have a lot of questions,” Minato says, but then he claps his hands and any desire he has to ask them disappears. His smile returns - and it’s that, more than anything, more than his cool jutsu and his kunai, that Naruto wants to remember forever. “But I think it’s best if we forget this ever happened. We already know too much about your lives. I’m no Yamanaka, but I have a few tricks for sealing memories.”

That sounds like a great idea to Naruto until the implications catch up.

“Wait, all of us? But why us? We’re from the future! What does it matter if we remember? I don’t -”

_Want to forget_.

“I - I don’t know if it makes a difference,” he stammers, the other thought catching in his throat. “Right?”

"Kid's got a point," Chōza says. “Seems unlikely they’ll bump into one of your seals again.”

"I don't know," Minato says, sounding torn. "I suppose I could… well. Time isn’t something we should mess with.”

_You zip through space-time all the time!_ Naruto nearly shouts. He’s not dumb enough to argue with a fuinjutsu master though, even if it’s his dad.

“What's the harm?" Chōza presses, and Shibi agrees. “Let the kids remember. If they come and tell us all about it in the future, who says we'll even believe them?"

Minato concedes. Naruto barely refrains from hollering.

“All right. Just us, then. Rōran fell into ruin, as far as we’ll be concerned. And - Your Majesty, I’ll have to modify your memories as well. But first, we should get you three home. And, um, wake my student of course. I’m sorry for the trouble.”

Little Kakashi is still half-unconscious, half-snoozing on Yamato’s shoulder. He has Little Kakashi perched in his arms as though he’s never held a child before. His expression betrays a man who is excited for the blackmail but who would also like to be exactly anywhere else.

“It’s fine,” Yamato says stiffly. “He’s been more trouble, believe me.”

“Points for cuteness, though,” Kakashi-sensei adds. He reaches over to his younger self. For a moment, it looks as though he’s going to shake him awake, but then his hand stops in Little Kakashi’s hair. He brushes it back gently - and it’s the first time Kakashi-sensei’s _been_ gentle with his counterpart, Naruto realises, rather than avoiding him, or ignoring him, or throwing him around like a bag of flour. “Hey kiddo, wakey-wakey.”

Little Kakashi grumbles sleepily. “Dad? Did we win?”

“Not quite,” Kakashi-sensei says, which isn’t the best answer to either of those questions.

Little Kakashi hums but doesn’t quite wake. Yamato’s face dithers between fond and afraid.

“I’ll take him,” Chōza says. “I think he’d die of shock if he woke up on your shoulder, Minato.”

Shibi startles them all by laughing.

Minato blushes. “I - all right, then. Naruto - ready to go?”

“Go?” Naruto parrots, and his breath catches Minato twirls the thunder kunai and crouches down by the seal.

Oh. _Go home_.

That thunder kunai was, for the shortest of times, Naruto’s, and he remembers how it looked when they found it; half-buried in the stone, prongs sunk deep, and untouched by all but time. It was only a few days ago but it feels longer - and for the kunai, it’s been nearly twenty years. It’s been the city’s last and most powerful defence for a long time - a lonely time, a forgotten one.

Naruto vows not to forget. He stares at that kunai now, mouth thick with dread. It feels as though his triumphant smile at defeating Anrokuzan has shrivelled inside of his mouth. _This is it._ Those words echo around his head like the Nine-Tails’ laughter as he places his hands on Minato’s shoulder. It’s sandy - but warm. He can’t help but curl his fingers into the jacket. It’s just a standard-issue vest, nothing special. Some of Anrokuzan’s purple fire has singed the edge, and bits of fabric disintegrate under Naruto’s hands.

This is the last time he'll ever see his dad.

He should say something. Anything. His mouth won’t move. He doesn’t know why. He’s said goodbye before. But it feels different this time.

He’s never said goodbye to someone and known it’s the last time.

"You ready?" Minato repeats. His golden hair brushes Naruto’s fingers as he turns his head. Naruto’s hair is this colour. How similar do they look, side-by-side like this? "I'd say just give me whatever you can spare, but if your reserves are anything like Kushina's, that'll be far too much. So just a little bit, okay?"

"Okay," Naruto says numbly, trying to say anything else. He bites down on his lip, afraid of how that smile will spill back out of his mouth. Will it sound like happiness or sorrow? He doesn’t want to find out. Tears gather in his eyes. He can't bear to let go of Minato’s vest to scrub them away.

"Great. And you really are like her, you know. Just like her. She never knows what to say, either. Which is crazy, because she never seems to stop talking. Don’t tell her I said that, though. I love her so much but _god_ she’s scary.”

Naruto laughs. It comes out like a sob.

“Now, hopefully this will send you all back to the moment my seal was broken, but if I’m off by a few days, we’ll just say that’s what I was going for, okay? Don’t want you to be _too_ mad at me.”

Naruto nods and cries and remembers, stupidly, that Minato can’t see him. He hopes it isn’t obvious that he’s crying. He blinks furiously, wishfully, and focuses on gathering his chakra. It’s harder to move a little bit than a lot, but Naruto imagines it in terms of his shadow clones. One or two should suffice - or maybe three, he’s not sure. Chakra surges through his palms. It feels more like ten clones’ worth of chakra, but Minato doesn’t tell him to stop. Naruto’s chakra-control is terrible. Minato can probably sense that. He can probably feel Naruto’s tears raining onto his neck.

“I’m -” Naruto tries, and then Minato starts forming hand-seals, and he _can’t_ let go, not anymore. Minato’s chakra rises like a hurricane under his hands and it feels so much like his own. They’re wind-natured, they both are; and maybe that was the omen that told Naruto that these days in Rōran were going to be fleeting, or maybe he knew because everything in his life is.

“I’m not, I’m not mad at you,” Naruto says, and one after another Minato’s forms hand signs, and still Naruto doesn’t know what to say but this is his final chance as the signs flash by and their chakra builds and - Minato stills. He lingers on the last sign with his kunai ready, even though there’s no _reason_ to stop, and Naruto starts babbling all the things he’s been meaning to say and then their chakra surges and - “Is that enough?” Naruto asks, and he means the chakra, he means -

“More than,” Minato replies, and he drives the thunder kunai into the podium, and all is white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and for your lovely comments! I'm so happy to know so many people have enjoyed this fic. I'm really glad to finally be drawing it to a close - it's the least you all deserve - so thanks again and as always, all comments appreciated! ✌️


End file.
